When did Diversity win Britain’s Got Talent and where are the past winners? From Paul Potts and George Sampson to Tokio Myers
BRITAIN'S Got Talent has provided viewers with memorable winners including the dance troupe Diversity and unlikely opera star Paul Potts.
But where are they now? Did they find success after the show - here's everything you need to know...
Diversity
Shock winners Diversity beat bookies' favourite Susan Boyle to the BGT crown in 2009.
They have continued to dance together since their time on the show.
Their 2012 tour sold out London's O2 arena, while appearances on Got To Dance - with Diversity leader Ashley Banjo as a regular judge and members Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely doing a stint as backstage hosts - cemented their status as household names.
Ashley appeared on The Real Full Monty and was a judge on Dancing On Ice in 2018.
Jordan also on the ice dance show as well as appearing on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2016.
Diversity were struck by tragedy in the summer of 2017 when it was announced that Robert Anker, a member of the dance troupe, had died in a car accident in Canada.
This year Diversity Juniors (DVJ) a younger version of Diversity have made it through to the 2018 BGT final with Ashley's help - could they go all the way?
Tokio Myers
Tokio Myers was the winner of last year's competition.
He impressed the judges and viewers at home with his magical piano performances.
Before the show, the 34-year-old was a session pianist who supported the likes of Kanye West and Amy Winehouse.
In the final he played a rendition of Rag 'n' Bone Man's hit Human.
Tokio's debut album Our Generation is available now.
He's also touring the UK this year.
Paul Potts
Prior to auditioning for Britain's Got Talent in 2007, opera singer Paul Potts worked at a Carphone Warehouse store.
He stunned then-judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan with his rendition of Puccini's Nessun Dorma in his first audition, which has since become one of the top 100 most watched YouTube videos of all time.
After winning the live final and performing for the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance, his first album One Chance went to number 1 on the UK albums chart and sold over 2million copies.
Paul is also big in Germany and won the 2009 Echo Award for Best International Male Artist, as well as receiving a nomination for Album of the Year.
He has continued to sing and perform around the world, and in 2013, a movie called One Chance was made about his rise to stardom, with James Corden playing Paul.
In summer 2016, Paul Potts took his first ever professional full-length opera roles, having only sung concert-style performances as a professional singer beforehand.
He starred in Puccini's Tosca at Chiswick House in June and Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer in Hungary in July.
2018 contestant Gruffydd Wyn Jones is hoping to follow in Paul's footsteps, since he performed Nessun Dorma in his BGT audition and is now through to the grand final.
George Sampson
Street dancer George Sampson won the second series of Britain's Got Talent in 2008.
He amazed audiences with his performance to Mint Royale's remix of Gene Kelly classic Singin' In The Rain, complete with artificial rain machine.
The routine was so good he performed it twice, in both the semi-final and the final of the competition.
After his storming BGT win, George got into acting alongside his dancing, first in West End hip-hop musical Into The Hoods, then in Brit film StreetDance 3D alongside fellow show winners Diversity.
He went on to play Kyle Stack in school drama Waterloo Road from 2011-2013 and made recurring appearances in Emmerdale as troublesome Ryan Harred in 2016.
Now he's had a hair transplant, to get rid of the bald patch caused by spinning on his bonce.
He's also had a bizarre court battle with his mother to evict her from his own house.
Susan Boyle
Despite being the clear favourite, Susan didn't win the show when she competed in 2009 - but Ms Boyle surely deserves a special mention as Britain's Got Talent's most famous former contestant.
Since coming second to Diversity in a shocking twist, Susan hasn't let not winning the show hold her back.
Her first album, I Dreamed A Dream, was the fastest selling UK album of all time and sold over 700,000 copies in the US in its first week.
Additionally a musical about Susan's life, called I Dreamed A Dream, toured the UK and Ireland in 2012. Fans from all over the world flocked to Newcastle for the opening week of the show, which SuBo herself appeared in for a short cameo.
Susan has continued to perform and release music - proving that winning isn't everything as she has done better than many of the show's winners.
However, she revealed in November 2016 that her Asperger's Syndrome, which was diagnosed in 2012-13, has made it difficult for her to perform live, and she is not sure if she will be able to tour again.
Spelbound
Acrobatic gymnasts Spelbound, who won the show in 2010, continued to perform as a group for a few years, but have since gone quiet.
Spelbound were invited to perform at the London 2012 Olympics, entertaining the crowds in between competitive rounds of the rhythmic gymnastics.
They also performed at the closing ceremony, when they performed The Beatles' A Day In The Life and The Kinks' Waterloo Sunset - the latter accompanying Kinks lead singer Ray Davies.
As many of Spelbound's members grew out of gymnastics or left the troupe for other ventures things went quiet for the acrobats.
It's not clear whether any of them are still acrobatic gymnasts, though some have gone into dance or gymnastics coaching.
Jai McDowall
Scottish singer-songwriter Jai McDowall impressed the public and won the competition in 2011, performing at the Royal Variety Performance and landing himself a record deal with Simon Cowell's label Syco.
But he was swiftly dropped by Cowell after his debut album, Believe, flopped, and his last notable performance was at a rally in support of Scottish independence.
As if that didn't sting enough, Simon said in 2012: "I was disappointed with last year's winner, Jai.
"You want to find someone who is a star all over the world and who has got a long career. With respect to him, he wasn't one of our best ones."
While X Factor judge Louis Walsh said Jai had "no star quality at all".
Prior to his BGT win, Jai had a brief stint on The X Factor but was dropped at bootcamp.
Ashleigh and Pudsey
2012 winners Ashleigh and Pudsey performed at the Royal Variety Performance and at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee after their BGT victory.
The double act also won a bigger cash prize than any other BGT champion - earning themselves a tidy £500,000 when previous contestants had won just £100,000, and later winners would earn £250,000.
They did a couple of pantomime roles and made a host of dog-related TV appearances together - from Top Dog Model, to That Dog Can Dance!, to Who Let the Dogs Out?
Pudsey even got his own film and was voiced by Britain's Got Talent judge David Walliams.
But in July 2017 it was announced that Pudsey had died after battling acute leukemia.
Ashleigh has since performed with her dog Sully - renamed Pudsey.
And the pair won an agility event at Crufts in March 2018.
Attraction
Shadow theatre group Attraction won Britain's Got Talent in 2013 despite the fact they were not from Britain at all - they are in fact Hungarian.
They had already performed on the German version of Got Talent and were known in Europe - and after the show they continued to work on their international connections.
Attraction landed a lucrative deal to perform their own show at The Mirage theatre in Las Vegas.
They also performed on Chinese state television for Chinese New Year in 2014, recreating famous landmarks and Chinese characters with their shadow puppetry.
They also performed in an insurance ad for Swinton.
It's not clear whether they're still performing - but despite winning the British TV show it's clear they are not well-known in the UK any more.
Collabro
Musical theatre supergroup Collabro won the eighth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2014.
The five-piece band auditioned for the panel of judges with a rendition of a song from musical Les Miserables.
Despite Simon Cowell's insistence that he HATES musical theatre, he declared "Britain really has got talent", and the boys haven't looked back since.
Their first album, Stars, went straight to number one on the albums chart.
Their second album, released in 2015, entered the charts at number 2.
They have toured the UK twice, as well as in Japan, Canada and the US.
Their first UK tour sold 50,000 tickets and included a sold-out show at the prestigious London Palladium theatre.
However, it hasn't been all bright lights and happiness for the group.
In 2016, five became four when Richard Hadfield quit the band.
But they have continued to release music as a four-piece group and brought out a third album, Home, in March 2017, on a record label they set up themselves.
They toured the UK at the end of 2017.
Jules O'Dwyer and Matisse
Britain's Got Talent viewers love a dog act, so Jules O'Dwyer and her well-trained pup Matisse were propelled to victory in 2015 - but controversy was quick to follow.
TV regulator Ofcom received over 200 complaints after it emerged Matisse was not the only dog who had performed in their act - Jules' other dog, Chase, also performed in the live final of the show, but viewers were not told.
No formal action was taken against the act and they still performed in the Royal Variety Performance, although some irate BGT fans said they didn't deserve the title.
It's not clear whether they are still performing.
Richard Jones
Richard is still a recognisable name a year on from winning the 2016 show.
Lance Corporal and amazing magician Richard Jones wowed audiences and the judges with his mind-boggling feats, culminating in a heart-warming performance in the show's live final, when he told a veteran's life story through card tricks.
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Since winning the show in 2016, Richard has embarked on a national tour, as well as continuing to report for duty as a member of the Household Cavalry.
His hour-long special Operation Magic aired on Saturday, April 15, 2018, on ITV.
It followed Richard in his daily life as he balanced his military duties with his magic career, and also entertained his forces colleagues.
