Cowell 'insists BGT acts are a surprise'

Piers Morgan has said that Britain's Got Talent judges are not given any prior information about auditionees on the show.

During the last series, critics had suggested that some elements of the programme had been scripted or pre-planned, a claim denied by contestants and producers.

Morgan told The Futon Critic: "Simon Cowell, the creator of the Got Talent format, he's absolutely adamant we should never have any warning from the producers about what is going to come on stage in terms of their ability because, you know, sometimes we might get told their name and that's about it.

"What Simon believes and I think he's absolutely right is that if you have prior warning that someone's going to be great then you don't act surprised. I mean, why would you, you know?"

He added: "If we knew Susan Boyle had a voice like an angel we wouldn't have been pulling all those faces and being rather condescending towards her.

"We would have been thinking, well let's give her a couple of seconds to sing and then we'll all know she's great."