Britain’s Got Talent has been embroiled in a ‘copycat’ feud after singing magician Lewis Fuller was accused of cheating on a routine during his audition.
The performer, 24, stunned viewers last month with his impressive audition, which included a woman floating and disappearing.
But now illusionist Jamie Allan has claimed that the Lewis act “lights up” a similar act he had performed a decade earlier.
said Jamie The sun that there are similarities between Lewis’s act and his own, especially given his use of holograms throughout the show.
He said, “I looked at it and I thought, ‘Okay, that’s really good.’ I actually loved it and it wasn’t until the end when the girl got up and I was like, ‘Oh no, he’s not going to do the end of my part, is he?’
Drama! Britain’s Got Talent has become embroiled in a ‘copycat’ spat after singing magician Lewis Fuller (left) was accused of ‘dropping off’ a routine (right) during his audition
No! The artist missed out on Tuesday in the BGT final, despite another impressive magic trick
“When that happened I thought, ‘That’s such a unique effect, that’s never been done anywhere else.'” Then when you look back at the rest, you see the similarities.’
“It’s just frustrating when you see regular people saying, ‘This is fantastic.’ It’s so creative. So original.” You think, “Well, I did it 10 years ago.”
Lewis missed out on a spot in the BGT final after competing in Tuesday’s semi-final.
Jamie added that he has met Lewis on a few occasions and admitted that it is ‘difficult’ if the public thinks he got his magical ideas from the young performer.
Ideas themselves cannot be protected by copyright and Jamie admitted that the ‘law is very, very vague’ when it comes to protecting magic tricks.
He also told the publication that Lewis was aware of his work, as he bought his book earlier, and spent over a decade and nearly £100,000 improving his act.
Jamie also said he had support from BGT runner-up Marc Spelmann, who finished second in 2019.
A representative for Lewis told the publication, “These claims are false and damaging to Lewis’s career.
Float away! The artist stunned viewers last month with his impressive audition, which included a woman floating and disappearing
See the difference? But now illusionist Jamie Allan has claimed the Lewis act is a similar “light up” he performed a decade earlier (pictured)
Claims: Jamie (right) also told the publication that Lewis (pictured in his audition left) knew about his work because he had previously bought his book
To suggest that Lewis’ act is not his own is wholly false. Lewis did not purchase the book prior to his audition and therefore it has no significance to Lewis’ BGT act.
“He deserves to have his moment without false accusations.”
Many BGT viewers claimed to have discovered Lewis’ magic trick during Tuesday’s semi-final.
He returned to the stage in an attempt to secure a spot in the Grand Finals with his unique combination of singing and magic.
However, he failed to impress with his teleportation and telepathy trick, with viewers dismissing it as “boring” and “cheesy.”
He asked judges Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell to pull song titles from a bag, which he then guessed correctly.
Using Amanda’s ring, Lewis set it on fire to represent her song choice, Ring Of Fire by Johnny Cash.
He then sang Simon’s song and used his teleportation skills when he appeared to move around the stage while singing.
The magician then seemed to disappear and then suddenly reappeared behind the judges at the end.
But viewers at home complained that the solution to the trick was obvious, claiming that the footage of Lewis on stage was clearly pre-recorded video.
One of them said, ‘He used a pre-record of himself on the box, went through the hatch and there you have it?’
Another agreed, saying, “Lewis Fuller — his audition was much better, like 100 times better.” The boxes on stage were just video.
Real? Many BGT viewers claimed to have discovered Lewis’ magic trick during Tuesday’s semi-final
No? He failed to impress with his teleportation and telepathy trick, with viewers dismissing it as “boring” and “cheesy”
Others reiterated that his audition had been superior, with one writing, “Shame on Lewis Fuller. If he had done what he did during the audition, he would have won the whole night. Amanda and Alesha ruined his act by calling it “too cheesy.”
Another added, “Lewis is great, but I liked his audition better than this performance. The magic was too long-winded from the start and I’m not thrilled with his voice either. He just has to stick with the magic and that’s it. The singing is not necessary.’
But several fans praised Lewis’ efforts, with one tweet: “To be honest, the first half was a bit disappointing, but when he did the vocals and magic from his audition again, it was utterly amazing. No idea how Lewis Fuller does any of that magic.”
Lewis failed to make the final but the two places were taken by Viggo Venn and Olivia Lynes.