Britain's Got Talent winner brands Dermot O'Leary's response to theatre singing backlash "disappointing"
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Britain's Got Talent winner George Sampson has criticised Dermot O'Leary for his response to the ongoing debate revolving around singing at live stage productions.
The presenter received criticism for his remarks on This Morning last week when he and co-host Alison Hammond bemoaned a Manchester production of The Bodyguard being cancelled due to noise from the audience.
Their comments prompted a backlash from the theatre community, leading O'Leary to issue to Twitter an apology in which he said he was "against audience members singing too loudly".
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His latest statement has been met with continued criticism, however, with several industry figures pointing out that such noise can distract theatre performers from their work.
Sampson, who won the second series of Britain's Got Talent in 2008, branded O'Leary's response as "disappointing" in a Twitter reply to the post.
"Weird take, and a disappointing read if I'm honest," he wrote.
"People, Don't sing at all, at ANY volume when you're watching musicals, unless it's been okayed by the production. You're there to be performed for, not performed with."
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Hammond, who was recently announced as the new host of The Great British Bake-Off, also apologised following the segment with O'Leary.
"After reflection and the comments I made on Wednesday's show, I want to apologise to anyone who I offended especially the incredibly talented theatre performers, who I have the utmost respect for," she wrote in a statement.
"I had no idea the level of disruption audiences were causing and tried to make light of the topic on Wednesday's show, and for that, I'm truly sorry.
"I am a great supporter of theatre and the arts and would never sing at the top of my lungs at any performance, I was wrong in what I said and I've given this a lot of thought over the past few days and believe I was wrong."
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