I was on Britain’s Got Talent & there are chaotic secret changes until last minute at auditions – you don’t notice on TV
AFTER days of waiting anxiously, opera hopeful Maxwell Thorpe thought of nothing else but how to nail his audition song.
But just hours before going on stage for Britain's Got Talent he was told to change it by producers.
Fans of the show will remember the shy Sheffield busker for coming second in last year's contest to comedian Axel Blake.
He stunned the judges, in a Susan Boyle style, with his incredible baritone voice after nervously introducing himself.
Maxwell got a standing ovation from the audience and judges, as well as reduced Amanda Holden to tears before being given four yeses.
Now, as the series returns this weekend, the the singer, 33, tells The Sun what really goes on behind the scenes - all the way from the auditions to the final itself.
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Changing your tune
Ahead of Maxwell's audition, he was told by producers that they'd prefer him to sing Caruso instead of Nessun Dorma in front of the celebrity judges.
Thankfully, he had prepared both songs so he wasn't left at a disadvantage.
He says: "The producers rang and were like 'we've got Nessun Dorma and we've got Caruso, what would you like to sing?' And I just thought, I'll go big. I'll do Nessun Dorma.
So I replied, 'Let's do Nessun Dorma."
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"It was agreed and then they messaged me later saying 'Actually can you do Caruso?' So I agreed and I think it was the right decision in hindsight."
Maxwell was also sent off to buy new clothes because he'd turned up to do the televised audition in all black - something producers said wouldn't work on camera.
They asked him to find a grey shirt and more importantly, a cap.
"They liked the look of me in a cap and wanted it to be my thing," he said.
"I'd actually made effort and done my hair that day to look smart, but I did as they requested and got myself a cap."
Shocking performance
Maxwell says his time on the ITV talent show was overwhelmingly positive despite being kept on his toes when it came to song choices.
He had another last-minute change ahead of the semi-final from Nella Fantasia to a movie hit.
"I always wanted Gladiator's Now We Are Free but there was a problem with the copyright," he said.
"We were all holding out for permission as long as possible because I was determined to sing it if I could. It's from my brother's favourite film.
"I didn't find out until literally a couple of days before. It was nail-biting stuff for me. I was really excited we got the go-ahead."
His song for the final was also up in the air for a bit with producers making suggestions for different songs.
At one stage they wanted him to sing Never Enough which had been sung by fellow contestant Loren Allred and secured her a golden buzzer nomination in auditions.
To avoid repetition bosses translated the song into Italian word for word - something Maxwell thought sounded odd.
"It just sounded wrong and it didn't work so we decided it would be best for me to sing Caruso.
"Looking back I wish I'd done Nella Fantasia because it's a different tone to everything else I'd done. It's more melancholic."
Friends for life
Behind the scenes, Maxwell was bowled over by the dedication of the backstage staff.
He formed a close bond with a runner assigned to look after him, as well as the show's welfare producer.
Maxwell has stayed in touch with the team and even got a call from the welfare producer to check he had support in place if he needed it.
Talking about his time with them on the show, he said: "They were fantastic. The runner who looked after me, left a card and a bottle of prosecco for me backstage after the final.
"It was such a lovely gesture."
Judges' distance
Maxwell said he made friends for life on the show, which included the other acts.
While the crew stayed close with the contestants, the judges keep themselves fairly separate.
Backstage, they have their dressing rooms in a separate area from the contestants and they only mingle if they want to.
"David Walliams was the only one as far as I know, who kind of came out of his changing room and spoke to us," Daniel claimed.
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"I happened to be just coming back from rehearsal when he was speaking to us also speaking to a group of us.
"I don't think you got spoken to by Simon unless you were his golden buzzer act. It was all down to them if they'd speak to us."