When mother-daughter duo, Dawn Matthews and Abbey Jordan, a.k.a. Like Mother Like Daughter, auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent in 2012, they served one of the most infamous duets to ever grace the stage. Fourteen-year-old Abbey even got into a Twitter row with judge Alesha Dixon following the disastrous performance and rude comments from head judge Simon Cowell.
Music Man readers can watch the mayhem unfold in the video below. This audition has recently gone viral all over again, amassing more than 464,000 views to date!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8mEZW4qFIw%20
Mother Dawn, aged 38, takes the reins of the Kent-based duet’s pre-audition interviews, telling producers that she’s been singing professionally for over twenty years, in “pubs, clubs, toilets – anywhere they’ll pay me.”
She reveals that it was Abbey who first raised the idea of the pair singing together. But, hilariously, even when producers try to pluck out some of Abbey’s own insight, Dawn talks excitedly on her daughter’s behalf, while Abbey sits in silence, her deadpan expression serving the sense that she’s been dragged along to the audition by her mother.
The pair takes to the stage with a rendition of Plan B’s “She Said” – a song surprisingly picked out by Dawn, as she boasts to the BGT judges of the 4000 live gigs she’d performed across Kent and South-Eastern England up until that point.
But when Dawn starts singing in a nasal voice, Simon Cowell’s expression falls flat, while judge David Walliams tries to suss out the odd chemistry underlying this strange duet. Dawn performs in full-on, pub-singer mode with expressionistic movements and wholehearted passion, as Abbey stands beside her, perfectly still, with hardly any stage presence to speak of in comparison.
Alesha Dixon is the first to hit her red ‘X’ buzzer before the pair have even reached their chorus, with Dawn retaliating by trying to get the live audience clapping along to the beat. The judges huff and puff at her desperate attempt, as the entire room anticipates the moment Abbey finally makes her voice heard.
And when she does, it’s completely unexpected. Abbey raps a lightning-speed verse, instantly outshining her mother with her natural talent and surprising personality, making Alesha Dixon smile from ear to ear. Just as Dawn hits her second verse, David Walliams slams his buzzer, and Simon promptly puts a stop to their audition.
Needless to say, the judges’ feedback wasn’t great, with Simon calling out the disparity between both vocalists, and David telling Abbey, “You acted the whole time like someone was holding a gun to your head.”
Dawn hit back, telling David that it was Abbey’s first ever time singing on stage, only for Simon to shade the seasoned singer, commenting, “I thought Abbey was better than you!”
Dawn storms off stage as Simon requests a solo audition from Abbey, and while the teen star slays her second audition, an infuriated Dawn tries to steal the limelight again, even from behind the side-stage curtain, laying melodies over Abbey’s rapped rendition of “Tiny Dancer.”
When Dawn is called back to the stage, Alesha Dixon says what we were all thinking: “I can’t help feeling like this was your mum’s dream.” Unsurprisingly, the pair were sent off with four out of four No votes.
But the chaos didn’t end there! After the show, Abbey started a Twitter war with Alesha, writing to her, “I’m the girl out of ‘like mother like daughter’ at auditions today, before you sl*g of my mums singing? Listen to yourself!”
Alesha stood her ground, publicly replying, “I was lovely 2 u yesterday! when you’ve grown up, sorted out ya attitude and sold some records come back and talk to me :) xxx”
Like Mother Like Daughter’s notorious Britain’s Got Talent audition is must-see mayhem — the viral clip speaks for itself. To relive the chaos and discover more about Dawn and Abbey, check the useful links to find out more below this paragraph.