Furore over stunt double dog in talent show final

ITV boss Peter Fincham has called the presentation of Jules O’Dwyer’s dog act a “judgement call” — as complaints poured in about the Britain’s Got Talent stunt.

The revelation a lookalike dog was used to walk parallel ropes in the final sparked around 500 complaints by yesterday afternoon, with 365 to communications watchdog Ofcom and 130 to ITV.

Show boss Simon Cowell and his fellow judges, David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, and Amanda Holden, have stayed silent over the furore.

However, Fincham admitted Britain’s Got Talent should have made it clearer that O’Dwyer used a stunt double dog for her winning performance.

He told campaign group the Voice of the Listener and Viewer the way the act was presented was “a judgment call”.

However, he added: “In the semi-final it was made quite clear the other dog played a role in it.”

An Ofcom spokesman said complaints will be assessed before a decision is taken on whether to investigate.

O’Dwyer said that she was “shocked and surprised” by viewers’ reactions.

The guide dog trainer said she did not use Matisse, the dog which viewers believed performed the stunt, because he did not like heights.

“I was disappointed when people said I allegedly hid Chase and I was trying to make it like Chase was Matisse. That’s not so,” she said.