ITV’s Britain's Got Talent return date confirmed after auditions delayed following Liam Payne’s death

The launch date for the new series of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent has been announced as it returns for its 18th series. It will return to our screens on Saturday, February 22, airing at 7pm on ITV1, STV and ITVX, ITV has confirmed.

Hosts Ant and Dec are set to return, while all four judges - Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and Bruno Tonioli - will all be back. This year YouTuber and boxer KSI will also make an appearance on the series as a guest judge, the Mirror reports.

Exciting highlights from the upcoming series have been revealed in the official teaser show, with incredible acts set to take to the stage and audition. As the teaser begins Declan Donnelly can be heard saying: "Please take your seats, the show is about to start."

Acts in the teaser include a drummer who is seen with paint splashing on their drum set while the symbols are on fire, a dance act performing a huge flip, a pole dancer dressed as a seagull and a magician with his hand set on fire – along with a woman standing on stilts while flicking plates onto her head. The teaser ends with Ant McPartlin announcing: "It's showtime."

The series' return comes after the programme's audition process faced delays in October, following Liam Payne's tragic death. A week before Liam's shock death, the judges gathered in Blackpool Winter Gardens to mark the new series getting underway. However, the show later confirmed they postponed the auditions following his death.

The One Direction singer died at the age of 31 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in the Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Local police said the dad-of-one fell from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel before medics confirmed his death.

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