Steve Hewlett (ventriloquist)

Steve Hewlett is a ventriloquist from Basingstoke, Hampshire, England.[1] He was a finalist on the seventh series of Britain's Got Talent.[2]

For the journalist, see Steve Hewlett (journalist).

Early career

Hewlett has previously headlined Cromer Pier.[3]

Britain's Got Talent

He auditioned with a puppet called 'Arthur Lager', depicted as an old man with grey hair. Hewlett's audition was aired in a montage on 18 May 2013. He made it through, and subsequently through to the semi-finals. He appeared again in the semi-final on 1 June with Arthur Lager, and a puppet designed to resemble Simon Cowell, one of the judges. The routine involved Arthur flirting with Amanda Holden. He finished in the top three, and with eventual winners Attraction already through to the final, it was down to the judges to choose the second place in the final between Hewlett and Jordan O'Keefe. It was a split decision, so it was referred back to the public vote, revealing that with 15.1% of the vote, O'Keefe was through to the final, compared to Hewlett's 12%.[4] This left six singing acts in the final, which generated complaints;[5] Holden defended this, and the number of singers on the show, saying "We left it to the public, they wanted Jordan so that was the right decision. You can't argue with the public's decision."[6]

However, earlier in the week, it was revealed that the judges were going to choose a wildcard act out of the third-placed finishers to compete in the final. Hewlett was seen as the popular choice.[7][8][9] It was revealed on the night that Hewlett was indeed the wildcard. He performed again in the final with Arthur Lager (now wearing a Onesie) and the puppet of Simon Cowell (wearing a swimsuit and life jacket), as well as a puppet of Sinitta, along with a musical number in the shape of "We Go Together" from Grease at the end, involving the Simon and Sinitta puppets. Despite rave reviews from the judges, Hewlett finished fourth, just narrowly missing out on the top three with 14.7% of the vote, compared to Richard & Adam's 15.4%.[4]

Later career

It was revealed the day after the final that Hewlett had been signed to entertainment agency ROAR Global.[10] In 2014, Hewlett led a team of challengers on the TV quiz show Eggheads. He took puppet Arthur Lager with him.[11]

Personal life

He lives with his wife Nina and their daughter Lola-May,[12] who was born on 4 October 2011.[13]

gollark: I would *happily* buy a new pit of despair location.
gollark: Built land is not auctioned™.
gollark: But why does your boot partition have >4GB files on it?!
gollark: What claims?
gollark: Time to update completions in potatOS somehow, then.

References
  1. "VIDEO: Year to remember for Basingstoke ventriloquist Steve Hewlett".
  2. "Leicester entertainer to appear on BBC's Eggheads quiz show this month". 21 May 2014.
  3. Wyllie, Sophie. "Cromer Pier ventriloquist Steve Hewlett misses out on winning Britain's Got Talent".
  4. "Revealed: How you voted". ITV. 9 June 2013. Archived from the original on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  5. Macgregor, Conor (3 June 2013). "Britain's Got Talent: The Final Preview". On the Box.
  6. Darvill, Josh (2 June 2013). "Britain's Got Singers: Amanda Holden defends amount of vocalists in BGT final". TellyMix.
  7. Metro.co.uk, Sarah Deen for (8 June 2013). "BGT names Steve Hewlett as the wildcard act".
  8. Hyland, Ian (3 June 2013). "There are five Britain's Got Talent acts I'd pay to see but it'll be travesty if Attraction don't win".
  9. Britain's Got Talent 2013: Simon Cowell teases David Walliams wildcard choice - Steve Hewlett or Joseph Hall? | Unreality TV Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Britain's Got Talent 2013: Jack Carroll, Attraction, Jordan O'Keefe, Steve Hewlett, Francine Lewis sign with new agency - Unreality TV". 10 June 2013. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016.
  11. "Eggheads". 29 May 2014. BBC Two. Missing or empty |series= (help)
  12. Steve Hewlett | ROAR Broadcasting Archived 2014-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
  13. Batson, David (13 October 2011). "Cromer pier show's "vent" Steve Hewlett celebrates birth of baby after summer season closes". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.