Stacey Solomon joins Britain's Got Talent after Simon Cowell health crisis

Britain's Got Talent's head judge Simon Cowell reportedly fell ill during the first round of auditions in Birmingham, with a huge star being forced to 'step in at the last minute' to replace the 65-year-old judge so that bosses wouldn't have to cancel the day's auditions.

Stacey Solomon, who rose to fame after her appearance on The X Factor in 2009, was said to be the guest judge while Simon recovered.

A TV insider claimed: "If she hadn't have stepped in then organisers were facing doing the show with three judges OR potentially cancelling the Birmingham auditions and they really did not want to do that.

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"So many people were disappointed when yesterday's auditions were canceled they didn't want that to happen again, so Stacey was a great sport and stepped in."

The source went on to tell The Sun that Britain's Got Talent were 'grateful to her' for joining the panel at the last minute. They said Simon is now 'on the mend' and will be back on the panel in the next few days.

It comes a day after it was reported one of the auditions was cancelled due to an illness. Just hours before the auditions were scheduled to begin, the show's official X page shared a post confirming the beginning of the event.

It read: "We're so back... Who's joining us for the start of our #BGT Series 19 Auditions tomorrow!? And for any late-comers, there's still time to apply! Click the link and maybe we'll be seeing YOU on that stage" it ended with a link to apply for auditions.

However, the tweet was soon met with responses from confused fans claiming they had received emails saying the audition had been cancelled. One read: "Just had an email to say this is cancelled tomorrow is this correct?"

Another added: "Has this been cancelled? Had an email now to say its been cancelled, true?" A third asked: "Err I have just had an email to say the shows been postponed so you will rearrange our tickets for another day??"

A BGT spokesperson said: "Due to unforeseen circumstances today's filming of Britain’s Got Talent has been postponed."

Amid the confusion amongst fans and BGT hopefuls, a source has claimed the auditions were postponed due to head judge Simon, 65, falling ill. A source claimed: "Simon felt unwell in the last 24 hours. Judges often miss the odd audition because they don’t feel great - Simon, for example, has long suffered with migraines.

"But it was decided, as this was the first audition of the series, it was best to postpone - so we could launch with everyone on the panel.

The Mirror have reached out to ITV for comment.

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