Contestants are not allowed to sing publicly while the show is ongoing so as not to give them an unfair advantage.
20 million people, which is 54% of the audience and one third of Britain's population tuned into the 2009 final on May 30th; this was the year Susan Boyle came to fame. It was also the first time she sang publicly since her famous audition. The demand to hear her sing meant the show had to be streamed on the Internet at the same time. Everyone in Blackburn, Boyle's hometown, tuned in for it. Some people nicknamed it the Susan Boyle show that year. Over 3 million bet on the outcome of the show, rivaling the importance of the FA Cup Final. It was a whole 16 seconds before Ant and Dec announced Diversity were the winners. They won 24.9% to Boyle's 20.2%. People read the newspapers not to know who won but if Boyle had lost. Her defeat even made headlines in Azerbaijan, an Eastern European country on the Caspian Sea.
The prize at the end is £100,000 and the opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Performance in front of members of the Royal Family.
It takes two months to audition 450 acts.
When on camera, Ant and Dec are always positioned so that Ant is to the left on the screen and Dec is to the right, regardless of if they are facing the camera or whatever else they might be doing.