ITV has confirmed that Britain's Got Talent will not be taking place this year.

There had been a report recently that it would not go ahead but there had still been a hope that there might be a way of filming it during the pandemic.

But ITV has now issued a statement. A spokesperson said: "Despite everyone at ITV, Thames and Syco doing their best to make it happen, and with our absolute priority of safeguarding the wellbeing and health of every person involved in the programme, from judges, hosts and contestants to all of the crew and audience, the decision has been made to, unfortunately, move the record and broadcast of the 15th series of Britain's Got Talent to 2022."

"BGT is known for its diversity of talent with big dance groups, wonderful choirs and lavish orchestras at its heart, and it has become clear that not only is it not possible to film auditions with these types of acts in a secure way but also that they are not able to adequately rehearse and prepare safely.

"Safety has to come first and, as a result, the recording of the show can't currently go ahead as planned."

Comedians have recently done very well on the show, with Jon Courtenay and Lost Voice Guy winning the show and others including Daliso Chaponda, Steve Royle and Nabil Abdulrashid making the final.

But Covid conditions have also proved problematic in the last year. Improvisation group Noise Next Door chose to withdraw from the competition in 2020 after initially doing well, saying that because the next rounds would be filmed without an audience which they rely on heavily they decided to take themselves out of the running.