Britain's Got Talent 2016: Beau Dermott's dad denies claims star is stage school veteran
THE father of Britain's Got Talent frontrunner Beau Dermott has hit back at newspaper insinuations that his daughter is a "cheat" for having had singing lessons and taken part in regional talent shows before signing up for the ITV series.
Beau Dermott competed on Britain's Got Talent on Saturday
Beau performed Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked and earned a Golden Buzzer from judge Amanda Holden; sending her automatically through to the semi-final.
"People are saying she's been in theatre school for five years - she hasn't," Ian Dermott told the Mirror.
"It be once a month, it might be once in three months. Stage Pro is run by lovely people and we just go for a singing lesson as and when it suits."
He clarified: "She's never done any productions for them."
Beau has automatically made it to the semi-finals
She had the judges upstanding
Beau Dermott is Wicked: Britain's Got Talent 2016
You’ve got to use local talent shows to build their confidence up
Beau previously sang the showtune at a local competition, which Ian has said was vital in building her confidence and preparing her for a larger stage.
“You’ve got to use local talent shows to build their confidence up. It would be crazy to put your child on to a stage like BGT without knowing they can do it," he insisted. "You’d be hanging them out to dry.
“What you saw was what you got. They didn’t tell us what to say or how to act."
Beau, 12, has even been accused in one report of not being as nervous as she appeared on the programme on Saturday night.
Beau is the bookies' favourite to win
"I’ve watched it back numerous times now and you can clearly see she’s really, really nervous," Ian said. “She’s struggling at the start and she’s got a little quivery laugh.
“But when she starts singing the nerves leave her. That’s how she performs.”
Britain's Got Talent continues on Saturday at 7pm on ITV.