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Britain's Got Talent 2016: Watch the winning performance as final draws lowest audience ever

The public vote crowned 25-year-old magician Richard Jones as the tenth winner of the televised competition

Clarisse Loughrey
Sunday 29 May 2016 10:47 EDT
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Richard Jones' patriotic card trick doesn't appear to have been enough to capture the eyes of Britain; with the Britain's Got Talent final drawing the lowest audience in its 10-year-history.

The public vote crowned the 25-year-old magician as the tenth champion of the televised talent contest; making the Army bandsman the first magician ever to scoop up the prize, with swing singer Wayne Woodward landing second place.

Jones, who is a lance corporal of the Household Calvary, stole the hearts of both the judges and voting audience; featuring a story of Britain's oldest living magician, Fergus Anckorn, who used magic to survive the horrors of being held as a prisoner of war in Singapore.

The act ended with Anckorn himself, now a 97-year-old, being brought out on stage to a riot of cheers; and a standing ovation from the judges.

However, it doesn't appear to have been enough to charm viewers; with an average of 8M viewers tuning into the live broadcast, and 500,000 watching it on ITV+1. The previous low had been in 2014, when winning singing act Collabro brought in only 10.7M viewers.

Boogie Storm, a collective of disco-dancing stormtroopers, came third; with finalists including sword swallower Alex Magala, and young singers Jasmine Elcock and Beau Dermott.

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