Why isn’t the BGT 2025 semi-final on today? Reason for Saturday, May 17 schedule shake-up on ITV
AT the end of the third BGT 2025 semi-final on Saturday, May 10, 2025, Ant and Dec announced a rescheduling of the following week’s instalment.
Here’s everything you need to know about when it will air and the reason behind the change of plans.
Why isn’t BGT on Saturday, May 17, 2025?
Britain’s Got Talent‘s live semi-finals weed out the very best acts from those who’ve made it this far, with viewers voting for their favourite performers to reach the final.
Ant and Dec revealed that the next semi-final would be switching days as the BGT credits rolled.
This seems to have been done to avoid clashing with another massive talent competition — the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest.
When is the fourth BGT semi-final?
The fourth semi-final will air a day later than its usual weekend slot.
So, rather than being on Saturday May 17, 2025, BGT will air Sunday, May 18, 2025.
This comes hot off the heels of another shake-up on the show after bosses decided to add even more Golden Buzzers into proceedings.
ITV previously announced “a brand-new twist” to the live semi-finals, which have seen the inclusion of the Golden Buzzer for the first time.
This allows the judges’ chosen acts to go straight through to the final without enduring the nail-biting tension of the public vote.
How to vote for your favourite BGT finalist
Fans can visit the official ITV voting website — itv.com/vote or, if you’re in Scotland, stv.tv/vote — to vote for their favourite acts online.
Before casting votes, users must register on the website or BGT app using their UK mobile numbers, which helps ensure each person only uses their allocated votes.
When the voting window opens during the live show — announced by hosts Ant and Dec — when those who have registered will be able to cast up to five free votes each.
Voting via phone
Alternatively, fans can also vote for their favourite BGT performers via two premium-rate phone options.
The first is the Premium Rate Telephone Service (PRTS), where you dial the ‘09’ number shown on screen for your chosen act.
Each call costs 50 pence plus network’s access charge.
The second is the Mobile Short Dial Code (MSDC) — a five to seven-digit number unique to each — dialled from a mobile phone, with each MSDC vote also costing 50 pence.
Users of this method should hear a recorded message confirming their selection. Viewers cannot vote by texting the MSDC number.
There are no limits to how votes can be cast via telephone.
However, BGT producers reserve the right to disqualify votes if more than 600 are cast for one act from one phone number, which is considered an attempt to unfairly influence the outcome.
For every phone vote, 15 pence goes to the Royal Variety Charity, so you can support a good cause alongside your chosen act(s).
As ITV.com explains: “MSDCs help our viewers better understand the costs involved with voting. There are no network access charges when voting in this way.
“When calling premium rate ‘09’ numbers from mobiles, calls usually cost considerably more than if calling from a landline and the cost can vary from mobile network to network.”