Britain’s Got Talent 2023 has been broadcasting the audition rounds. Abi Carter-Simpson is one of this year’s hopefuls. She walked onto the stage carrying her ukulele just as Simon was saying that his three worst instruments are recorder, accordion, and … ukulele. When prompted, Abi said that she is a year six teacher from Essex.
Abi played an original composition, a witty song about modern life, that had the judges smiling and laughing and earned a standing ovation from the audience. The judges commented on the amazing audience reaction. When it came to voting, all four judges voted yes. This is the video of Abi Carter-Simpson’s BGT audition.
When she smiles, Abi’s face lights up. Commenting on Abi’s performance, judge Alesha Dixon observed: “She’s cool, she’s smart, she’s funny. She has a great tone, she has a great message.” Judging from the comments and the number of newspaper articles with “wow” in the headline, Abi’s audition was a hit with the judges, the audience, and television viewers. It also earned her an invitation onto ITV’s This Morning on 24 April. Of course, Abi took her Ukulele with her to the TV studio.
On the show, Abi explained that it was the pandemic that gave her the time to train as a primary school teacher. Before then, she had too many things on the go. Toward the end of her interview, Abi sang a This Morning-themed song that referenced the morning after the 2016 National Television Awards, when the show’s hosts Holly and Phil battled hangovers. Luckily the hosts were charmed by Abi and laughed at her jokes. After singing, Abi noted that it was her first time singing on live TV.
So what did 30-year-old Abi do before she trained as a teacher? Abi has a BA (Hons) degree in Musical Theatre from Guilford School of Acting. After graduating Abi appeared in a number of off-West-End shows before she debuted on the West End in 2016 in a show that toured the UK, and which went to Hong Kong and Singapore. In 2017 she joined the cast of News Review, and in 2018 she started performing stand-up comedy (with her ukulele).
Abi Carter-Simpson has performed on the same shows as an impressive list of comedians including I’m A Celebrity contestant Seann Walsh, Romesh Ranganathan and Stephen K Amos. She has appeared on the Alternative stage at the Reading and Leeds festivals, is a regular on comedy circuits, and she’s joined Mark Dolan on his Sunday show on talkRADIO. Abi also featured in the BBC’s All Together Now, a reality game show hosted by Rob Beckett, which had contestants trying to convince 100 people to sing along with them.
In 2019, Abi played a minor role of a waitress in Blinded By The Lights, a Warner Bros film available on Netflix. In 2020, she appeared on the Agatha Raisin (SKY 1) episode Agatha Raisin & The Deadly Dance. She has featured in adverts for UberEats and Zizzi. Abi is expected to perform at this summer’s Bish Bash Festival and Theatre In The Fields. At this point, all we can do is wish Abi Carter-Simpson well for BGT.