Britain’s Got Talent fans have slammed the show for being ‘unfair’ and a ‘sham’ after one of the acts was revealed to be a previous runner-up.

Noodle the animated cat blew the audience away in his audition, with many wondering about who was the voice behind the CGI feline.

During Thursday’s live semi-final, last year’s runner-up Tom Ball walked out on stage to reveal he was Noodle.

Hosts Ant and Dec and the judges were gobsmacked, with Simon Cowell saying: ‘I swear to god I never knew who was behind the cat. I gotta to hand it to you, you’ve never sung better than that!’

Alesha Dixon added: ‘What a lovely surprise!’ while Bruno Tonioli gushed: ‘I was not expecting that!

‘The way you hit those long high notes without ever losing the pitch, it was insane. Right on target, mission accomplished.’

However, viewers watching at home were not impressed and took to Twitter to complain that it was unfair for Tom to be allowed to re-enter the competition.

Tom placed third in the 2022 series and even went on to appear in America’s Got Talent: All Stars earlier this year.

After his performance, he said: ‘It’s changed my life completely. I’ve signed a record deal, I’ve got a tour. It’s all down to this show.’

Fans complained that Tom had already achieved success and was taking a spot from a more deserving contestant.

One said: ‘tom ball is honestly an amazing singer but he was 3rd last year, then he did agt champions show and now he’s back again?? seems a bit off’.

Another echoed: ‘Tom ball third last year, signed a record deal and toured America. Get off the show, leave someone else live the dream for a bit’.

A third commented: ‘I loved Tom Ball last year and think he’s a great singer, but him coming back is just wrong. It’s a promo. You’ve already done it. Now you’re taking it from others. Shame Tom Ball. Shame.’

Someone else added: ‘Tom Ball doesn’t need this at all….seems very unfair how this has all panned out’.

A fifth agreed, writing: ‘tom ball is a great singer but let someone else have their chance’.

While a sixth tweeted: ‘Great voice but not sure I understand why Tom Ball is back again? He said BGT had changed his life he was going on tour and had signed a record deal. Why not give someone else a chance of the same then?’

And a seventh wrote: ‘I don’t think it’s fair to have Tom Ball on again. He’s already a professional singer and has an album out and doing live gigs. He’s excellent but should not be on here tonight. Unfair on the other 7 acts.’

However, some viewers defended Tom and argued that other acts who had appeared on the show had already achieved success in the past.

One said: ‘Recognised Tom Ball straight away. Record deal or not, fair play to him if he wants to try and win again. Lots of acts on here already have deals etc.’

And another agreed, saying: ‘Lovely to see Tom Ball – I don’t think its unfair of him to be on the show anymore than the dancing groups who are professional, the singers who already have a career, or the comedians who are already established. Its seems the common theme on #BGT now.’