Britain’s Got Talent winner revealed
- Comedian Lost Voice Guy was crowned the winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2018
- Lee Ridley will now perform for The Queen at the Royal Variety Performance
- The final also saw Royal Wedding's Bishop Michael Curry and Channing Tatum
Lost Voice Guy was crowned the winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2018 after beating fellow comedy act Robert White and singer Donchez Dacres and will now perform for The Queen at the Royal Variety Performance.
Lee Ridley, who was born with the neurological condition cerebral palsy, is the first ever comedian to win BGT and went on to be praised by many on social media for setting an example for others with disabilities.
The former journalist who has previously performed at Edinburgh Fringe is well-known for his self-deprecating humour and was a hit during the final, which also welcomed the Royal Wedding’s Bishop Michael Curry and Magic Mike’s Channing Tatum. But who is the Lost Voice Guy?
Lost Voice Guy was crowned the winner of Britain’s Got Talent after beating Robert White
Who is Lost Voice Guy?
Born in Consett, County Durham, Lee Ridley is a stand-up comedian now based in Newcastle upon Tyne, according to his website.
Due to complications with cerebral palsy at a young age, Lee was left unable to speak and to this day, uses a series of pre-programmed sentences in a voice synthesiser called Speak It! to articulate his thoughts.
‘I have no speech (I use a small machine called a Lightwriter to speak) and I walk with a limp. Don't worry though, you can't catch it from me. It just means that you better not get stuck behind me on the stairs if there's a fire,’ he said.
Ridley is now a full-time comedian but in the past has worked as a journalist for Sunderland City Council’s communications team, the BBC in Newcastle and in London and local newspapers such as the Sunday Sun and the Evening Chronicle.
He started performing in 2012 after an encounter with Ross Noble led to him challenging the comedian for his impersonation of Stephen Hawking. Ridley’s stand-up set uses material that he has selected with occasional improvisation made on his synthesiser in real-time.
Lost Voice Guy went on to win the BBC Radio New Comedy Awards in 2014 and he also stars in a sitcom called Ability on Radio 4, which he co-wrote with the comedian Katherine Jakeways. In 2018, he won the Britain’s Got Talent final.
Lee Ridley took home the top prize of £250,000 and the opportunity to perform for The Queen
Britain’s Got Talent 2018 final
Lee Ridley as the Lost Voice Guy took home the top prize of £250,000 and the opportunity to perform for The Queen at the Royal Variety Performance on Sunday night. ‘I have been blown away by the support of the judges and the general public.
‘I'm very excited to perform in front of the Queen. I've loved her since she sang Bohemian Rhapsody,’ he said. In an interview ahead of the final, he referred to his recent fall and how he may have taken being told to ‘smash it’ a little too literally.
Despite jokes about Simon Cowell’s ‘facelift’, the BGT judge said that he was thrilled to see the comedian win with Alesha Dixon agreeing that Lee would ‘inspire so many people’. Robert White, a comedian with Asperger’s Syndrome came second in the competition and also made jokes about the judges.
Gymnasts from Vietnam, the Giang Brothers, wowed the nation with a daring leap that saw one brother jump onto a step with his brother balanced on his head, completing it without a safety harness for the first ever time.
Britain’s Got Talent final: Voting percentages
Lost Voice Guy - 21%
LVG
LVG
Robert White - 17.2%
Donchez Dacres - 11.2%
Gruffydd Wyn - 11.2%
Giang Brothers - 9.5%
DVJ - 7.1%
The D-Day Darlings - 7.1%
Jack & Tim - 6.2%
Calum Courtney - 3.5%
Micky P Kerr - 3.3%
B Positive Choir - 2.7%
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5802907/Who-Lost-Voice-Guy-Britains-Got-Talent-winner-revealed.html#ixzz5HTaCyTFX
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