Bruno Tonioli reveals how he really bagged role on Britain’s Got Talent

BRUNO Tonioli has revealed how he really bagged his role on Britain's Got Talent.

The Sun confirmed the former Strictly judge was replacing David Walliams on the ITV talent show back in January.

The 67-year-old joined show boss Simon Cowell as well as longstanding judges Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden on the panel, and has now opened up about how he got the gig.

Bruno, who was a judge on Strictly for 18 years before officially quitting last year, told The Sun's TV Mag: "Whatever you’ve read, it’s nonsense.

"The truth is I came back to do my wonderful number, my Christmas song for Strictly, to say goodbye to everyone - because we’re all friends  - and I didn’t have a clue about Britain’s Got Talent.

"A meeting was called on the 13th of January with ITV bosses and production etc, I got in and they said: Britain’s Got Talent. I said well, it's Simon, it’s Alesha, it’s Amanda, they’re all friends - of course, if you want me to. I’ll do it."

He continued: "They had to speak to Simon and then a few days later it happened and ten days later it was live and we were filming. It all happened so quickly and it was incredible.

"The truth of the matter is, years and years ago we had discussions because Simon and I have the same agent in America and some approaches were made but at the time I was doing two seasons of Dancing With The Stars a year and it would have clashed. It wasn’t feasible.

"So it was destiny, it was meant to happen and bang, straight in, we had a ball. It was so exciting."

Since joining the show, there have been numerous reports that there's tension between Bruno and the other judges.

But he insisted: "We all know each other. Simon I’ve known since the early 80s, Alesha was on Strictly with me, Amanda I met through Simon actually and Amanda’s husband used to work in the music business when I was working in it, so we all know each other.

"But then again, you never know, with chemistry you don’t make it happen, you can know someone but on screen you could be absolutely terrible together. But fortunately they made me feel very, very comfortable."

Britain's Got Talent starts tonight, April 15 at 8pm on ITV1. TV Mag is available for free, every Saturday, only in The Sun.