Amanda Holden teases autumn return for BGT

Amanda Holden has confirmed \'Britain\'s Got Talent\'s live shows will take place in "early autumn".

The programme is currently airing the audition stage of the competition but the finals are on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the 49-year-old star explained she and her fellow judges, Simon Cowell, David Walliams, and Alesha Dixon, have now been given a date for filming to resume.

However, that will depend on what, if any, social distancing guidelines are still in place because they don\'t want to go ahead without a live audience.

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She told HuffPost UK: "All of the main judges have been given a date to hold in early autumn to see if it works live.

"But we would never do it without an audience because we\'ve always said the British public is the fifth judge.

"So we can\'t do it without them - it would be no fun without them! We\'ll see what happens, but we are planning to do it this year."

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The \'Heart Breakfast\' host praised show boss Simon for pushing ITV to keep the auditions in their current slot, despite the rest of the series being on hold.

She said: "Simon has fought very hard for it to be on now, in its normal slot, and it celebrates Britain at its best.

"All our eccentricities, our nuttiness, and being able to laugh at ourselves is how we get through everything - we\'ve got to still find the light in the dark."

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Amanda recently revealed that Simon has continued to pay the \'BGT\' staff even though they are not currently working.

She said: "He\'s very generous. The way that he\'s dealt with his staff, paying them while the shows are off, he does everything right and he does it quietly."