Who is Britain’s Got Talent 2019 winner Colin Thackery and how old is he?
COLIN Thackery became the oldest champion of Britain's Got Talent when he won the ITV talent show in 2019.
He returned to compete in the ultimate showdown in Britain's Got Talent: The Champions. Here's what you need to know about the pensioner...
Who is Colin Thackery?
Colin Thackery is a 90-year-old army veteran and a singer.
He joined the army at the age of 15 and met his wife Joan at an army camp dance in County Durham.
They married in 1950, but Colin was posted to Korea two weeks after the wedding.
He was then posted to Hong Kong two years later where Joan eventually joined him. The couple returned to Britain with Joan passing away from breast cancer in December 2016.
Colin has four grandchildren and two children and lived in Norwich with his spouse until she died.
He then moved to the Royal Hospital Chelsea with the Chelsea Pensioners.
What was Colin Thackery's journey like on Britain's Got Talent in 2019?
Colin's audition was shown on Britain's Got Talent on Saturday, May 11, 2019.
He sang Wind Beneath My Wings, made famous by Bette Midler in Beaches.
The weepy song had the audience and the judges crying, as he dedicated it to his late wife Joan, who died in 2016 after more than 60 years of marriage.
Colin won over the judges and got four yeses, landing himself a place in the live semi-finals.
Talking about what his beloved wife would have said about his BGT audition, he told : “Well, first of all, she would be highly critical, because that’s that she was.
“Joan had a very good alto voice. In fact, we both sang together in an operatic society. She would have been highly critical, if I’d done anything wrong.
“She was a typical northern girl, they don’t say a lot, but they think a lot. But she would have been delighted.”
For his semi-final on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, he sang We'll Meet Again, and progressed to the final on Saturday, June 2, 2019, after receiving the most votes.
During the final show, Colin was crowned winner of Britain's Got Talent 2019, after singing Michael Ball's Love Changes Everything.
As the winner of Britain's Got Talent, Colin was invited to perform in front of the Royal Family at the Royal Variety Performance.
On performing for the Queen, he enthused: ";That’s the job. That’s what I wanted."
He also scooped the £250,000 prize money and vowed to share the fund with the Royal Chelsea Hospital, where he resides.
Colin revealed: "Well first of all the hospital, because we are a charity and we are always collecting for something.
"We've got a new centre that we've been wanting to build, a visitors centre, activity centre.
"I'd love to think that I set the whole thing off."
He added: "And of course I've got family. I've got grandchildren wanting to get on the property ladder and all that sort of thing and of course A-Levels and all that."
What regiment of the Army was Colin Thackery in?
Colin served in the 45th regiment of the Royal Artillery, the Queen's Army.
He went to war in Korea just two weeks after getting married to his late wife, Joan.
It was there that he lost some of his hearing in his ear after coming under attack.
When di Colin Thackery taking part in Britain's Got Talent: The Champions?
Yes, the former solider competed in Britain's Got Talent: The Champions and his episode was aired on Saturday, September 21, 2019.
The Britain's Got Talent winner used his performance to once again pay tribute to his late wife, Joan.
Pictures of he and Joan were shown on the screen behind him as he sang Ed Sheeran's Supermarket Flowers.
While the tear-jerking rendition moved audience members he did not make it through to the grand finale.