BGT winner Richard Jones thinks Elon Musk would be great as a new judge on the ITV show.
The soldier turned celebrity magician thinks the Tesla founder will be a brilliant addition to the panel – if a slot becomes available.
Richard, who won the show in 2016, said: “It would be fascinating to see how a billionaire would judge a talent show and how they watch and class entertainment.
“I think Elon would be brilliant. Yes it would be a bit random and very different to anything BGT has previously done.”
He jokingly added: “Elon always seems quite busy, so if he isn’t available, maybe Jeff Bezos would have some free time.”
Reacting to the recent addition of YouTube sensation KSI to the judging panel, Richard, who has just embarked on a new Sound of Magic tour, said: “Lots of the older generation have never heard of him, but KSI is probably more famous than the rest of the judges combined. He brings a whole new younger audience to BGT.”
Meanwhile Richard has opened up on working with notoriously scary head judge Simon Cowell, Richard said: “He’s probably the nicest person I’ve met on TV. People always see him as the tough guy, but he’ll always try and make every single person he meets feel appreciated and special in some sort of way. That’s probably why he’s been so successful.”
With production for the latest series underway, the former winner has shared his advice for new contestants of the nation’s favourite talent show.
Richard said: “Do what you enjoy and don’t be influenced by anything anyone in the TV world says.”
Since winning BGT nearly a decade ago, audience tastes have changed massively. Long gone are the days of Simon Cowell’s brutal takedowns of over-confident contestants.
And Richard thinks that’s a major positive.
“It’s a feel-good show now,” he says. “But in the past brilliant acts might have been badly edited or encouraged to do things that didn’t align with their personality.”
Richard’s 12 years of military service have played an important role in his BGT performances and beyond.
But his latest tour is unlike anything he’s previously done.
Richard a leading event host said: “I’ve been a pianist since I was very young and I always wanted to find a way of linking music with magic. My new show is more about the audiences: their experiences, decisions and emotions in relation to music.
“Luck is a running theme throughout the show. I strongly believe that if we picture ourselves as super lucky and good things happening to us, we’re more likely to draw those things to us.”
At a recent performance, Richard brought an audience member up onto stage who had always considered themselves unlucky and had recently gone through a tough time. He said: “We involve them in the magic and get them to do amazing, impossible things. The idea is that we show audiences that they’re as lucky as they choose to be. But I found that real magic was happening in the show, beyond the results I’m secretly controlling and facilitating.”
“Throughout the show, the background music is Nessun Dorma and we have features of Rome. We later found out that this man had proposed to his wife in front of the Coliseum. Someone else chose a number in the show, which just happened to be his door number. And there were lots of amazing moments like this- none of which was facilitated by me.”