Britain’s Got Talent winner Axel Blake has reflected on the controversy he faced fans noticed he had stand-up comedy special for sale on Amazon.
The 33-year-old comedian was crowned winner of this year’s ITV competition, beating singer Tom Ball and ventriloquist Jamie Leahey, and walking away with a £250,000 prize and a spot at the next Royal Variety Show.
Early on in the series, viewers were stunned to learn that Axel had a comedy special show on Amazon’s streaming service after it was filmed at his 2018 headline show, I’m Not Gonna Lie, at The Indigo at the O2 Arena.
While some accused producers of casting someone who had already enjoyed marginal success, Axel insisted he financed the show himself and that he did not have any kind of deal with Prime Video, as some wrongly assumed.
Looking back on it now, Axel told Metro.co.uk on the red carpet of the Rated Awards: ‘I ignored all that, I don’t have time for that.
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‘They don’t know my history and whatnot, so I ignored that, focused, it wasn’t someone had put my special online for me, it wasn’t like me and Amazon had a deal and a contract and loads of money, it didn’t work like that, so it was just up there for a few years on a lease and that was it.
‘But apparently no one can go on BGT with experience!’
Things worked out well for Axel in the end, however, after he was crowned the winner of the 2022 series.
The funnyman was left a little lost for words after Ant and Dec announced his name, saying: ‘I’m shaking, thank you everyone for voting for me… I can’t believe it.’
He won in a tense grand final featuring nine other finalists: Maxwell Thorpe, Jamie Leahey, Ben Nickless, Flintz and T4ylor, Tom Ball, Eva Abley, Loren Allred, 5 Star Boys, and Aneeshwar Kunchala.
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He has previously presented for the likes of SBTV and UNILAD and has gone viral with his comedy sketches in the past.
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His observational style of comedy has earned him headline shows around the country, as well as supporting spots for major names such as Dave Chappelle and Eddie Griffin.
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