What a commotion after it was discovered that the Britain's Got Talent winning dog, Matisse, did not perform the tightrope stunt in his winning routine!
Jules O'Dwyer, who performed the routine and also trains guide dogs, revealed that it was another of her dogs, Chase, who walked the tightrope because Matisse is not keen on heights.
The act featured O'Dwyer, dressed as a policewoman, going after Matisse, who had stolen sausages from a butcher, and also featured another of her pets, three-legged Skippy.
The pair beat Welsh choir Cor Glanaethwy and magician Jamie Raven to the £250,000 prize.
We had previously met Chase, when he appeared in the semi-final, but he was nowhere to be seen on stage during the results, leading to the accusations of deception.
Jules O’Dwyer has insisted that she did not cheat the public. She says she told the BGT production team that Matisse had a stunt double and a body double. Fletcher, his body double, was at home in Belgium and Chase, his stunt double, performed on the night. The Producers of Britain’s Got Talent have apparently apologised.
However, I think it was Jules’ clever unique mixture of dog agility and story-telling that really what won the show for her. So many things could have gone wrong, but the act went perfectly and couldn’t have been more entertaining. The act won by just 2% ahead of magician Raven but had it been known that there was a third dog involved, it might have boosted her votes as viewers could appreciate even more her knack of controlling and training a group of dogs to do exactly what she needed them to do on stage, under lights and in front of thousands in a live audience.
With a peak of 13.4 million views and only 30 people complaining, it’s a storm in a teacup. Not only did Jules devise a fantastic routine, she managed to get more than one dog to deliver it seamlessly.
We think Matisse, Chase and Skippy all deserve one of our special
pet tags. Check our great range out. Maybe we can track them down in Belgium!