BGT 2026: Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir Crowned Champions — But the Controversy Is Only Just Beginning

It was supposed to be Matty Juniosa’s night. The global fanbase had spoken. The view counts had spoken. Millions of people around the world who could not even vote had spent weeks making their feelings known online — and the singer with the voice that stopped rooms cold was widely predicted to take home the trophy.

Instead, on Saturday night at the BGT Grand Final, Ant and Dec announced a winner that sent social media into immediate and furious debate.

Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir — a choir established by television presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who was watching from the audience — had won Britain’s Got Talent 2026.

The Result That Divided a Nation

The Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir defeated Anastasiia and Salsa, who finished third, and drone spectacular act Celestial, who came in as runners-up. Upon being crowned the 19th BGT champions, the choir received £250,000 and an invitation to perform at the Royal Variety Performance.

In their acceptance, the choir dedicated the victory to farmers across the country — particularly those facing hardship — and made a point of noting their place in the show’s history.

“We are the first choir to have won BGT,” they said.

For their supporters, the result felt entirely right. Social media filled quickly with messages of genuine celebration — viewers calling the win well deserved, praising the choir as a true representation of what Britain is about, and expressing pride in a result that honored the agricultural community.

“The most deserving of winners. They are what this country is all about. Support our British farmers,” one viewer wrote on X.

The Accusations That Followed

But not everyone was celebrating. Within minutes of the result being announced, a different conversation was taking over — one centered not on the choir’s talent, but on the circumstances surrounding their victory.

The central point of contention: Jeremy Clarkson, who founded the choir and was present in the audience on the night, had publicly promised free pints of Hawkstone lager to everyone who voted for them.

For a significant portion of viewers, that promise crossed a line — and the backlash was immediate.

“The Jeremy Clarkson Hawkstone Lager Farmers Choir win — what a total fix,” one viewer posted. “Clarkson literally made the public vote them to win.”

The frustration extended beyond the Clarkson controversy. Fans of Matty Juniosa — whose performances of “Purple Rain” and “Dream On” had generated some of the biggest online reactions in BGT history — were vocal in their disappointment.

“Matty was robbed,” one viewer wrote. “Shocking results.”

Others felt spoken word poet Sonny Green and dance group LMA had been equally overlooked in a result that left large portions of the audience unsatisfied.

A Pattern the Show Knows Well

BGT controversies are nothing new. Last year’s winner, illusionist Harry Moulding, faced similar accusations of the result being fixed — claims the Blackpool-born performer pushed back against directly, arguing that the disbelief surrounding a great magic act is often mistaken for evidence of cheating.

The Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir now joins a distinguished list of BGT champions that includes Paul Potts, diversity dance group Diversity and dog act Ashleigh and Pudsey.

Whether the result was deserved, controversial or somewhere in between — one thing is certain. BGT 2026 has given the internet exactly what it loves most: a winner everyone has an opinion about, and a debate that is nowhere near finished.