Who Are the Judges of Britain's Got Talent
A Mini-Biography of Amanda Holden, Piers Morgan and Simon Cowell
May 29, 2009
Thanks to Youtube and contestants such as Paul Potts, Stavros Flatley and Susan Boyle, a local British show has become a well-recognised name around the world. Millions of clips from Britain’s Got Talent, showing the bemused faces of talent judges Simon, Amanda and Piers, have been shared by fans. US , European , New Zealand and Australian citizens know all about Paul Potts and Susan Boyle, but the Britain’s got Talent judges are perhaps not so well known, despite the fact that Simon and Piers were judges in the original America’s Got Talent back in 2006. This article provides a potted biography of Amanda Holden, Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan.
Amanda Holden’s Career
Amanda Holden was born in Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire on 16 February 1971. She made a career move at 17 by enrolling in London’s Mount View drama school. Oddly, her first TV appearance was as a contestant on Blind Date.
In 1994, Amanda won a role in the popular TV series Eastenders as Carmen. From there she manages small parts in movies and TV series, until her role as receptionist Mel in the sit-com Kiss Me Kate brought her to popular attention in 1998 She has been a regular in both TV and British movies since then, achieving star billing in the first three series of the 2006-2008 series Wild at Heart as Sarah Trevanion, wife of a vet in Africa.
Amanda was also very successful as Millie in the 2004 stage musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, being nominated for a Lawrence Olivier Theatre Award for her performance.
Amanda Holden’s Private life
In 1995, Amanda married popular comedian Les Dennis, one of the stars of the first film she appeared in (Intimate Relations). Dennis was some 20 years her senior and the marriage ended in 2003, after Amanda’s much-publicised affair with TV star Neil Morrissey from Men Behaving Badly. She subsequently had a daughter Lexie in January 2006 and married music producer Chris Hughes in December 2008.
Amanda was the logical choice for female judge to counter-balance the two suave gentlemen when Britain’s Got Talent kicked off in 2007.
Piers Morgan’s Career
Born as Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan on 30 March 1965 at Newick, East Sussex, Piers was schooled at Lewes and later enrolled in the Harlow Journalism College. He was a reporter with the Surry and South London Newspaper Group and quickly rose to become Showbusiness Editor of the Sun newspaper between 1989 and 1994. From 1995 until 2004, he was editor of the Daily Mirror.
His benign, quiet appearance on Britain’s Got Talent does not indicate the amount of strife and controversy that has surrounded his career. He was sacked from his editorial position, being held responsible for publishing controversial photos that proved to be a hoax and made the Mirror look foolish. BBC News indicates that he had regularly been chastised for scandal stories about the royals, especially Princess Diana and her lover
In 2000, the Independent newspaper reveals, he was centre of a share-dealing scandal when several staff members bought shares that had been tipped in the Mirror column.
He moved into television in 2003 with The importance of Being Famous and then hosted a current affairs interview program.
In June 2006, Simon Cowell, producer of the ‘Got Talent series”’ offered Piers a judging role in the first of the series, America’S Got Talent. Subsequently, the pair have appeared as judges in the UK series.
Piers Morgan’s Private Life
In 1991 Piers married Marion Shalloe and they have three sons. They later divorced in 2008 and Piers had had a series of celebrity girlfriends since. Mail on Line (May 2009) shows Piers at the book launch of his current girlfriend,Celia Walden’s first novel and reveals that Piers is about to sign a deal with NBC for a David Frost style chat show. He is also the author of nine books, the last three about himself.
Simon Cowell’s Career
Simon Phillip Cowell was born on 7 October 1959 in Brighton, Sussex. MSN Entertainment records that Simon was kicked out of several schools for bad behaviour, changing schools 16 times and leaving school before completing 6th Form. He eventually got a job in the mail room at EMI records, where his father was an executive. He clearly had talent, as he was promoted to music publishing, and then, at 23, left to try his own label with a colleague.
Celebrity Spotlight reports that he joined record company BMG in 1989 and has to date produced 50 Number 1 records for them. He branched into TV production with his Syco company, producing such successes as the X Factor, American Inventor, and, of course, the ‘Got Talent’ series. Remarkably, he has appeared as a judge in many of the series he produces. Audiences love to boo Simon for his brutal, cutting remarks, but he does reward the talent he approves. Metro UK reports that Paul Potts was signed to a million dollar contract with Cowell’s record label. Thus, Simon is a very successful and wealthy music producer. Forbes.com estimates that he now earns 36 million a year. This includes the money from the deal struck in 2006 for Simon to remain on as a judge in American Idol for the subsequent 5 year period, earning 20 million each season. Now in its 8th year, American Idol is one of the biggest talent shows in the world, and the viper-tongued Simon one of its biggest success factotrs.
Simon Cowell’s Private Life
Acccording to MSN Entertainment, Simon once dated pop star Sinitta and recently split with long-term girlfriend Terri Seymour. He has two homes: one is in London and the other is a mansion in Beverley Hills.
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