The hugely anticipated new series of Britain's Got Talent kicks off this weekend, and with it comes its popular spin-off show, Britain's Got More Talent with host Stephen Mulhern.
However, it has now been revealed that filming for the show was 'thrown into chaos' a few months back after Stephen picked up a nasty bout of Laryngitis, meaning he was forced to go on voice rest.
Taking to Twitter at the time, Stephen wrote, 'Morning! Absolutely gutted to be missing the first round of @BGT auditions this week in Blackpool! I am on doctor’s strict orders to rest my voice, after suffering a nasty bout of Laryngitis - first day off from the show in 11 years. Unbelievable!' [sic]
Filming for the show was put on hold for four days, meaning the production crews had to play catch up when Stephen recovered from his illness.
OK! Magazine reports Stephen said, "The problem is that there was literally nothing that the team could do without me being there. That was the problem because the whole thing about More Talent is we do the fun side to the main show, we get away with a lot more, we do all the eccentric stuff, so there was simply nothing that could be done.
"Normally our day would start around 10.30am on camera and we’d finish about 1am. So, we had to recoup all that time we missed. What was four days off ended up being over nine days extra work. We had to get acts back that I’d missed which was just bizarre because some of them had been given a no by the judges but still wanted to come on our show."
Oh dear! 😬
Despite his sick days, it sounds like Stephen's job on the popular spin-off show is very safe. Revealing he told bosses of BGT to get someone else in to replace him, Stephen revealed that ITV dismissed his offer.
He said, "At one point, I did say they should get someone else to do the days I wasn’t there so that we still had content, but ITV said, and I took this as a huge compliment, that I’ve made the show my own and there’s no other presenter they could see doing it in the style I do it."
Meanwhile, ahead of the new series of Britain's Got More Talent, it was revealed yesterday that the judges' backstage comments have been recorded this year, meaning viewers will get to see exactly what they think of people when they forget they are on camera.
Stephen compared the new game to 'Russian Roulette' and revealed the judges often forget their microphones are still on backstage. He said, "It'll be like Russian Roulette, we'll play it and see who they were talking about. It's like they've never been on TV before, they know their microphone is on but they are still whispering.
We can't wait! 🙌
Check out the trailer for the brand new series of Britain's Got Talent, featuring Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams:
Britain's Got Talent returns to ITV at 8pm on Saturday 14th April, with Britain's Got More Talent following the programme straight after on ITV2.
Now check out all of the past BGT winners:
RADIO Britain's Got Talent winners so far slider
![Paul Potts](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5c36/0543/e818/601b/dd24/a6da/britains-got-talent-winner-paul-potts.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Paul Potts
Paul Potts won the very first show in 2007 with his hugely impressive singing abilities.
![George Sampson](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5c36/0625/e818/601b/dd24/a6eb/britains-got-talent-winner-george-sampson.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
George Sampson
Break dancer George Sampson won the show in 2008 at the age of just 14-years-old.
![Diversity](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5c36/079a/e818/601b/dd24/a714/britains-got-talent-winner-diversity.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Diversity
Dance group Diversity won the show in 2009, with Ashley Banjo going on to become a TV presenter.
![Spellbound](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5c36/0832/e818/601b/dd24/a719/britains-got-talent-winner-spellbound.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Spellbound
The 2010 series also saw a dance group win in the form of Spellbound, pictured here performing with singer Katherine Jenkins that year.
![Jai McDowall](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5c36/093c/e818/601b/dd24/a724/britains-got-talent-winner-jai-mcdowall.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Jai McDowall
Singer Jai McDowall won the show in 2011.
![Ashleigh and Pudsey](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5c36/09b2/e818/601b/dd24/a72f/britains-got-talent-winner-ashley-pudsey.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Ashleigh and Pudsey
Dog performing act Ashleigh and Pudsey were winners of the 2012 series. However, Pudsey sadly passed away in July 2017.
![Attraction](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5c36/0a97/e818/601b/dd24/a73e/britains-got-talent-winner-attraction.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Attraction
Another dance group won over the public in 2013, as Attraction used shadows and puppets to create beautiful spectacles - pictured here with Terry Crews.
![Collabro](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5c36/0b25/e818/601b/dd24/a743/britains-got-talent-winner-collabro.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Collabro
Singing group Collabro wowed viewers in 2014 with their performances of musical theatre songs.
![Jules and Matisse](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5c36/0bbf/e818/601b/dd24/a752/britains-got-talent-winner-jules-matisse.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Jules and Matisse
Britain's Got Talent saw its second dog act winner in 2015 with Jules and Matisse.
![Richard Jones](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5c36/0d15/e818/601b/dd24/a76a/britains-got-talent-winner-richard-jones.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Richard Jones
Magician Richard Jones won the hearts of the nation in 2016.
![Tokio Myers](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5c36/0e2f/e818/601b/dd24/a779/britains-got-talent-winner-tokio-myers.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Tokio Myers
Pianist and music producer Tokio Myers won the show in 2017, pictured here with BGT judge Amanda Holden.
![Lost Voice Guy](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5b1a/5005/ab03/d048/965c/eb9d/lost-voice-guy.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Lost Voice Guy
Lost Voice Guy, real name Lee Ridley, won in 2018.
![Colin Thackery](https://images.bauerhosting.com/legacy/media/5cf4/eeda/b933/c373/f3d6/7214/colin-thackery.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Colin Thackery
Colin Thackery won Britain's Got Talent in 2019.