ITV’s Saturday night line-up is in for a major shake-up as Britain’s Got Talent 2026 moves into its live semi-final stage, with changes across the schedule as the show takes over primetime.
Not planning to watch from home? Here’s everything you need to know about how to get tickets for the Britain’s Got Talent semi-finals, when the live shows air, and how the schedule changes will affect ITV’s usual Saturday night line-up.
When do Britain’s Got Talent semi-finals start?
This weekend marks the final audition episode of BGT 2026.
From the following weekend, all shows up until the grand final will be broadcast live from the London Palladium.
The first live semi-final airs on Saturday, April 25.
After that, the semi-finals will continue weekly on Saturdays, although the fourth semi-final will move to Sunday, May 17, due to the Eurovision Song Contest airing the night before.
The opening semi-final will be shown on ITV1 and ITVX from 7pm on Saturday, April 25. In total, there will be five semi-finals, with the series concluding in a grand final on Saturday, May 30.
Ant and Dec will be hosting the semi-finals (Credit: ITV)
How to get tickets to the Britain’s Got Talent semi-final
Good news for fans, tickets are completely free.
They are available through Applause Store, the ticket agency that handles audience places for a range of UK TV and radio shows.
To apply, you will need to register with Applause Store and enter the ballot for a chance to attend the live semi-finals. If you have not heard back 24 hours before the show, it means you have not been successful.
If you were hoping to attend the first semi-final on April 25, you are out of luck as that date is already fully booked.
However, there are still places available for the second semi-final on Saturday, May 2 at the time of writing.
ITV schedule shake-up for BGT semi-finals
So far, the audition shows in BGT 2026 have run for around an hour.
From the semi-finals onwards, however, the live episodes will be significantly longer.
The first semi-final will run from 7pm until 9pm.
This extended runtime will affect ITV’s Saturday evening schedule.
As a result, Celebrity Sabotage will see its final episode moved earlier than usual into the 6pm slot ahead of BGT.
The 1% Club will also not air on April 25, with Graham Norton’s new show, The Neighbourhood, taking its 9pm slot instead.
Britain’s Got Talent continues tonight (Saturday, April 18) from 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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