Simon Cowell 'heckled' during Britain's Got Talent auditions in Blackpool as producers halt filming

The 65-year-old was heading up the judging panel when the Britain’s Got Talent team rolled into Blackpool’s Winter Gardens at the start of the year. However, filming proved tricky after some hecklers in the crowd relentlessly hounded Simon during the show.

According to The Sun, the crowd jeered the head judge and booed whenever he criticised performers on stage. Simon took the heckles in a good way however, with a source close to the show saying: "Simon isn’t vain in that way and found the heckling absolutely hilarious — even when they were calling him an old fart.

“He loves having BGT in Blackpool precisely because the crowds are so raucous and enthusiastic. And he knows that sometimes he might be on the receiving end of their passion."

The only issue was that production was forced to halt filming momentarily to cut around the interruptions. The source added: “He even encourages them to misbehave, even if sometimes the misbehaviour can cause a headache for the production team.“Thankfully they were compensated for any hassle by a rare chance to have a good laugh at the boss’s expense.”

Fellow judges Bruno Tonioli, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and new guest judge KSI all join Simon for the 18th series of the competition show. The new series is set to kick off on Saturday, February 22 on ITV and STV.