“I never want to sit in that seat again!”

Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden has revealed that she “hated” her new role on the latest season. Set to air on 21 February, filming for the new season began last year, with the majority of the auditions taking place in Blackpool.

After Simon Cowell fell down some steps and suffered a head injury, he was forced to miss the first few days of filming, meaning Holden took on the role of head judge, while Stacey Solomon stepped in as a guest judge.

Opening up about taking Simon’s place for a few days, Holden said (via The Mirror): “I must admit I hated sitting in that seat! I’ve been on the show the longest, so I understand why I probably need to sit in that seat, but when I was there, I felt very outcast on the end.”

She continued: “It’s okay if your team are sat to the left of you, Simon’s got dozens of staff and family watching from the side and communicating with him. Mine all decided to eat my snacks and sit in the dressing room, paying no attention to the show or me whatsoever!”

Speaking about her temporary role, Holden said she prefers her position at the judging table as she is central to the conversations that take place between judges.

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She said: “Simon said to me, ‘You must have loved it. Did you feel powerful?’ I said I hated it because I had to keep leaning in to be part of the conversation.

“I never want to sit in that seat again! I’m juicy in the middle, it’s such a good spot.”

Asked what it was like to have Solomon on board as a guest judge, Holden said: “She’s so lovely, and I think we’ve got quite a similar style of judging.

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“She’s warm, she’s super funny, she has a great understanding of what it’s like to be on the other side, because she obviously auditioned for The X Factor all those years ago.”

Holden also described what it was like to hold auditions in Blackpool rather than London, saying: “They were wild, I’m going to say feral but in the best way possible! Oh my God, people were running down the aisles, and we were doing non-stop selfies every day.

“That kind of thing never happens in London. Everyone follows the rules and sits in their seats. But in Blackpool, everyone just went absolutely nuts.”

Britain’s Got Talent returns on 21 February.