Debbie McGee blasts Britain's Got Talent magician for 'stealing' Paul Daniels' tricks
SHE'S currently grieving for her husband who passed away last month, and now Debbie McGee has accused an aspiring magician of copying one of Paul Daniels' acts.
Debbie McGee is upset that BGT's Richard Jones is copying her late husband's magic
McGee, 57, has accused Britain's Got Talent contestant Richard Jones of stealing one of her late husband's tricks when he auditioned on the ITV show last weekend.
During Saturday night's episode, 25-year-old Jones conjured a glass of tea from what was originally a fizzy drink.
Jones, who is a bandsman in the Army, wowed the audience and the judges with his magic trick and by demonstrating telepathy on Amanda Holden.
McGee has accused Jones of "stealing", which she noted is "frowned upon in The Magic Circle".
Richard Jones turned a soft drink into tea on Saturday night's Britain's Got Talent
Magician Paul Daniels lost his battle with cancer last month aged 77
Daniels did indeed perform the tricks in question, in a 1989 episode of The Paul Daniels Magic Show on the BBC.
On Saturday, Jones asked glamorous judge Holden to think of a celebrity, after which he guessed she was imagining David Beckham. Daniels performed the same trick 27 years ago, guessing correctly that his subject at the time was thinking about Elvis Presley.
He also transformed a variety of beverages into different ones on the same show in the 80s.
"He didn’t steal the whole presentation but people do get cross when you present something in the exact same way,” McGee said afterwards.
Richard Jones read Amanda Holden's mind at the weekend, wowing the audience and judges
Britains Got Talent - Crazy magic trick
Paul has done both of those tricks in the past. Stealing people’s tricks is frowned upon in The Magic Circle
A source close to Jones has since quashed that theory by saying: “He was unaware Paul performed something similar in the past. These similarities are purely coincidental.”
On Sunday, Jones suggested he was not interested in copying other acts.
Speaking to the BGT website, he said: “Although I know the judges love magic, they also love to pick people apart, so I was really careful when choosing what to perform. I wanted to...do something a little bit different. I went out on a bit of a limb, but I think it paid off.”
The trick can in fact be traced back to origins in the 1930s - pre-dating both Jones and Daniels.
Jones is through to the next round of the ITV talent competition.
Britain's Got Talent continues on Saturday at 8pm on ITV1.