Squaddie’s magical win – with the help of a real hero
MAGICIAN soldier Richard Jones stormed to victory on Britain’s Got Talent last night – after conjuring up a 97year-old Second World War veteran.
Jones, a Lance Corporal with the Household Cavalry, tugged at the heartstrings with a card trick that celebrated the life of former prisoner of war Fergus Anckorn – then unexpectedly introduced him to the stage.
Anckorn was dubbed ‘the conjuror of the River Kwai’ as his passion for magic helped him endure the horrors of the Burma death railway. He performed magic tricks for his Japanese captors, earning him and his comrades extra food and longer break times.
His defiant story inspired Jones to become a magician, as he told the 12million viewers of the live final. And when the bookies’ favourite was announced as the winner of the £250,000 cash prize, he could barely speak. He just managed to say: ‘It’s been an amazing experience. It’s been an incredible experience.’
Judge Simon Cowell said it wasn’t only Jones’s technical skills, honed through practising on his Army comrades, that made him the first magician to win the show in its ten-year history. ‘I think people rooted for him as a person,’ Cowell said. ‘He deserved to win.’
Jones, 25, said he might quit the Army if he now gets an ‘amazing’ job offer – such as a TV show or West End
run following his victory. And he hit back at critics who claimed he had ripped off a trick from the heats from the late Paul Daniels. He said it dated back centuries, but ‘I added so much to it to make it my own. Paul did his version and I did mine.’ Much-tipped singing sensation Beau Dermott, 12, could only manage fifth place as more than 2.5million public votes were cast. But she is poised for West End stardom anyway. She has already secured an agent and is in talks about making her London stage debut. Producer Nica Burns said: ‘Beau will have a massive career in musical theatre if she wants. She’s the real deal.’