BGT misled viewers over winning dog act, Ofcom rules

During the tightrope section of the winning act, Matisse was substituted by Chase (above)

Britain's Got Talent misled viewers over the use of a second dog in the final of the ITV talent show, media watchdog Ofcom has ruled.

Jules O'Dwyer and her dog Matisse won the talent show in June, but it was later revealed that another dog, Chase, performed the tightrope walk section.

While Ofcom acknowledged ITV did not intend to deceive viewers, it said they were ultimately misled.

ITV has said it will refund viewers who paid to vote for the winning act.

It expressed "sincere regret" about the "unfortunate editorial mistake".

'Materially misleading'

More than 1,000 complaints were made to Ofcom in the immediate aftermath of the final regarding the use of Chase.

Matisse appeared on stage with owner Jules O'Dwyer at the end of the show

More than 13m viewers had watched O'Dwyer and Matisse become the second dog act to win Britain's Got Talent, following Ashleigh Butler and Pudsey in 2012.

ITV's voting figures showed they won by just 2% - getting 22.6% of votes compared with 20.4% for magician Raven.

Ofcom said ITV broke rule 2.14 of the broadcasting code which states that "broadcasters must ensure that viewers... are not materially misled about any broadcast competition or voting".

"In this case, the fact - as evidenced by numerous complainants to Ofcom - many viewers were not aware that a central part of a dog agility act was performed by a second animal, indicates the licensee did not take sufficient steps to ensure that the broadcast was not materially misleading," the watchdog said.

'Spoil the surprise'

ITV said in an official statement: "The Britain's Got Talent production team apologised at the time for not making it clearer to the judges and viewers at home that three dogs were involved in the final performance.

"There was never any intention to mislead viewers and in their decision Ofcom said they 'have no reason to believe that there was any intention to deceive viewers that the tightrope walk actually involved a second dog'."

It went on: "The majority of votes cast for Jules' act were received through the free voting app.

"However, we accept that some viewers who voted for the winning act by a paid voting route may wish to seek a refund, or that the cost of their vote be donated in full to the Royal Variety charity.

"Details about how to obtain a refund, or to request that a refund be donated to the charity, are now on our website."