Britain's Got Talent: who is the unexpectedly controversial 8-year-old magician Issy Simpson?

Britain's Got Talent finalist Issy Simpson
Britain's Got Talent finalist Issy Simpson Credit: ITV/Screengrab

The semi-finalists on this year's Britain's Got Talent continue to be whittled down in time for this weekend's grand finale, where successful acts compete to perform in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance. One such candidate is tiny magician Issy Simpson, who has been comfortably wowing the show's judges with her delicate sleights of hand and seemingly impossible magic abilities.

Issy Simpson
Credit: TOM DYMOND/SYCO/THAMES

Who is Issy Simpson?

Issy Simpson is an eight-year-old budding magician from Blackpool. Before her initial audition, Simpson claimed that she was "born to do magic" and that her idol is Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter novels. Ultimately impressed by her skills, Simon Cowell joked that she was a "witch", and that he had no idea how she achieved her magical prowess.

"I don't know how you do it," he said. "You have magical powers."

What has she done on the show so far?

In her audition, Simpson performed an array of tricks, including carrying on stage a cardboard box that suddenly became impossible to move once she asked Cowell and David Walliams to lift it. She also asked Alesha Dixon to help randomly select a word from a random page of one of her favourite books. When Dixon chose the word "Kettle", Simpson revealed that she had somehow written that very same word on a nearby chalkboard before her audition began.

For her semi-final trick, Simpson asked the BGT judges to share a series of seemingly unrelated answers to questions, from "Who is a very famous and beloved celebrity?" to "What change do you have in your pocket?" For Dixon, Simpson requested she pick a seemingly random number from a bag.

She then revealed that she had already written the results of the judges' answers on a piece of paper before the live show had started. But while Dixon's "randomly selected number" read 30,517, Dixon accidentally read aloud the number 30,515 -- potentially ruining Simpson's trick in the process. Thankfully, Simpson corrected Dixon's reading and the trick was able to continue as planned.

Why is she this year's most unexpectedly controversial contestant?

While Simpson has won legions of fans with her adorable magic skills, she's also generated her fair share of controversy. Namely that her grandfather Russ Stevens, who she has credited with teaching her magic tricks, has previously coached contestants on the series. While reports have linked him with previous magician competitors including Jamie Raven and James More, Britain's Got Talent bosses have denied that he has ever been a significant presence on set.

In a statement, they also denied that Stevens had any involvement in getting Simpson a spot on the show.

Issy Simpson
Credit: ITV/Screengrab

"Russ Stevens is a magic expert, who was used as the freelance magic consultant for two shows only in 2014. He has not been contracted since," they said. "Issy went through the exact same process as any other act and was auditioned on her performance on the day."

There have also been complaints that the expensive equipment Simpson uses to trick her audiences, which has included a £3000 electronic blackboard that can digitally write a word from a nearby iPad, have given her another unfair advantage.

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