Angry Britain’s Got Talent viewers slam horrifying ‘self-harm’ act that was barely watchable

This Britain’s Got Talent hopeful took viewers by surprise with his act (Picture: ITV)

You know when an act comes with a ‘Don’t try this at home’ pre-warning, things are about to get interesting – and that’s certainly one way of describing this Britain’s Got Talent act.

This weekend’s auditions saw Leroy Patterson take to the stage, having travelled over from Los Angeles, California, by himself to showcase his… talents.

Well, he admitted it was more a display of ‘stupidity’, with which angry viewers agreed after branding his performance ‘vile’ and ‘horrific’.

The auditionee didn’t divulge any details about what his act would contain beforehand, meaning judges Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, KSI, and stand-in Stacey Solomon were taken aback when he began stripping.

Standing in just his underpants, the 42-year-old explained that he was about to demonstrate ‘three very important safety tips’.

But these weren’t demonstrations on handwashing or crossing the road. Instead, Leroy took the first lesson as an opportunity to say: ‘If you find yourself in front of a pile of mousetraps, do not do this…’

Leroy Patterson began by throwing himself down onto a pile of mousetraps (Picture: ITV) Of course, audiences were reminded not to try to recreate his actions at home (Picture: ITV)

He proceeded to, you guessed it, throw himself down stomach-first onto the traps, causing hosts Ant and Dec to wince and the audience to gasp.

Stacey immediately pressed her red buzzer, which didn’t faze Leroy, who moved onto his second demonstration – sitting down on a strip of carpet tacks.

He closed his eyes as he did so, visibly shaking afterwards and clearly in pain.

‘Why would you do that?’, asked Amanda, with Alesha exclaiming: ‘What is happening?’

For his big finish, Leroy made his way to a tunnel of wheat strimmers, which he turned on and ran through – but not before shoving a bunch of flowers into the blades to illustrate the danger.

‘Is he still alive?’, Ant McPartlin asked the camera afterwards while the crowd screamed and KSI groaned.

He then sat down on a chair of carpet tacks – wincing while doing so (Picture: ITV) We felt that one (Picture: ITV) For his finale, the 42-year-old ran through a tunnel of wheat strimmers (Picture: ITV)

Leroy covered his body and was, as you’d expect, uncomfortable, but still made his way to centre stage to take a bow.

Surprisingly, he earned rapturous applause and was sent through to the next round, with boxer-turned-YouTuber KSI telling him he wanted something to ‘make [him] squirm’.

He might have to work harder to get the likes of Alesha on board, though, as the long-time judge gave an emphatic ‘no’, saying: ‘For me, it’s not entertaining.’

Alesha wasn’t the only one who had to watch through her fingers, as viewers took to social media during the episode to criticise the inclusion of a ‘self-harm’ act.

‘That was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen on this show’, wrote @RyanSoapKing25 on X.

‘What the hell was that? There was NO NEED’, raged @2001joe_mendy.

Ant and Dec asked if he was ‘still alive’ afterwards (Picture: ITV) Despite being buzzed twice, Leroy made it through (Picture: ITV) …even though those watching at home branded his act ‘vile’ (Picture: ITV)

‘So we’ve just seen a man self-harm on #BritainsGotTalent & you are voting him in. This is all that’s wrong with the world right now’, vented @cookmandy, accusing ITV of becoming ‘desperate for ratings’ as numbers dwindle.

‘Absolutely vile that self harming act. Should be embarrassed’, echoed @kazuma_kir12053.

‘That was a serious OFCOM complaint performance. Horrific!’, @JackieA954 said.

Of course, this is far from the first time a dangerous act has appeared on BGT.

Over the last 20 years, millions have tuned in to see escapologists risk their lives and daredevil magicians defy all health and safety protocols in the hopes of winning a place at the Royal Variety Performance.

In 2010, gymnastics troupe Spellbound also won the show, having stunned viewers with their daring routines that involved risky flips and spins. Simon Cowell even called one of their performances ‘one of the most astonishing things [he] has ever seen’.

Other controversial acts included 2019’s Andrei Gomonov, who threw knives at a board while Simon stood in front, and 2023’s Andrew Stanton, who was called ‘disgusting’ after lifting Amanda up using his eye sockets.

Unfortunately, though, things don’t always go to plan.

Thrill-seeker Jonathan Goodwin made his debut on the talent show seven years ago, making it to the finals and becoming the first-ever act to be ‘buried alive’.

Also an America’s Got Talent star, Jonathan retired in 2021, having been hospitalised after sustaining serious injuries during a rehearsal for AGT: Extreme, which included a broken spine and third-degree burns.

After getting crushed between two cars as they caught fire, he was left paralysed from the waist down.

ITV has been contacted for comment.

Britain’s Got Talent continues next Saturday on ITV1 and ITVX.

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