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Britain’s Got Talent’s Danny Beard says Simon Cowell doesn’t ‘get’ gay acts

By Samuel McManus

Drag star and Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Danny Beard has spoken about whether or not Simon Cowell has a problem with gay acts after the music mogul buzzed his performance during Wednesday night’s (May 25) live show.

Danny performed Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding Out For A Hero’ during the show, and his performance received high praise from judges Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams. However, he failed to impress Simon Cowell, who buzzed during his performance, leaving Danny to finish in seventh place out of nine acts.

In an interview with Gay Star News, Danny speaks about whether he thinks Simon Cowell has a problem with gay acts after previously buzzing other drag and cabaret acts – namely Yanis Marshall in 2014, a gay man who danced in heels.

“I don’t think he has a problem, I just don’t think he gets it. It’s not his world,” Danny said. “When I first came out and did Rocky Horror, a lot of the comments were about my voice. As it was a musical, he could get it. It fit somewhere in his mind. Because I didn’t do a musical, he just didn’t understand it.”

Simon did however apologise to Danny after his performance, he explains: “After the night was over, he came up to me as said, ‘I’m really sorry, I just really wanted you to do a musical’. Because it wasn’t a musical, he just didn’t get it. I don’t think he’s got a problem.

“With his power, and position, I don’t think he could have a problem like that in public.”

You can read Danny’s full interview over at Gay Star News.

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