Britain’s Got Talent has been hit by a lot of controversy this series, and claims have now been made that magician Richard Jones performed a trick that wasn’t his own.
US magician Collins Key appeared on America’s Got Talent in 2013 and performed the trick using Howie Mandel’s autobiography.
Watch Collins Key’s trick here:
However, despite Simon Cowell creating both talent shows, a spokesperson for the show revealed that Simon had never seen the trick before.
Speaking to The Sun, they said: "Simon Cowell was not a judge on [America’s Got Talent] when the trick was originally performed.
"The first time he has ever seen it was this week."
If you missed the trick that left judges stunned, here’s a reminder:
David Walliams praised Richard after his performance saying: "Well it was absolutely astonishing. We had absolutely no idea how you did that. A brilliantly original trick."
"You, sir, are a wizard. That has to be magic,” Simon added.
But Richard has now spoken out about the claims, explaining that he had not ‘stolen’ the trick from someone else.
Speaking on Lorraine, he said: “In terms of it being similar to some other magicians, all magicians perform very similar effects, but it’s their own personal take on the effect that matters, they adapt it and make it their own.
“The roots of some of the tricks that I did on the semi-finals stem back hundreds of years and I have adapted them and made them more modern for our public and it’s a bit like a singer singing her own version of a song or a dancer doing her own style of dance.”
This is not the first time Richard has been hit by cheating claims however, as Paul Daniels’ widow Debbie McGee hit out at the BGT finalist saying he performed two tricks that her husband did years ago.
The tricks included where Richard turned orange juice into tea and one where cards were cut up and a celebrity was chosen.
Debbie said: "Paul has done both of those tricks in the past. Stealing people’s tricks is frowned upon in The Magic Circle.
"He didn’t steal the whole presentation but people do get cross when you present something in the exact same way.”
And when Richard appeared on This Morning to perform a trick with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, viewers noticed that he had made a mistake.
Watch the trick for yourself here:
Did you spot the different writing on Richard’s playing cards?
These viewers took to Twitter to share their opinon:
What do you make of the claims? Do you think viewers are being too harsh on Richard?
Let us know via Facebook and Twitter (@CloserOnline).
Lorraine is on ITV, weekdays from 8.30am to 9.25am.