Unhinged and Brilliantly British: Jack Rhodes returns to Britain's Got Talent.
What do you do after coming in second on Britain’s Got Talent? If you're Jack Rhodes, you return with a mask, an LED-lit alter ego called “The Hacker”, and the wildest BGT stunt yet: you make Simon Cowell perform on stage and award yourself the Golden Buzzer.
The Master Plan
"Wouldn't it be funny to make Simon Cowell the act, sit in his chair, and then judge him? And then I thought, I could give him the Golden Buzzer. As soon as I thought that, I thought, I can't not do this." – Jack Rhodes
That single idea sparked a months-long secret mission. Rhodes, a magician-comedian hybrid from the north of England, dreamed up a concept that no one had dared before: flipping the show upside down by giving Simon Cowell the full Simon Cowell treatment.
He studied Cowell’s judging quirks like a student prepping for finals:
- “What would it mean to you to win Britain’s Got Talent?”
- “Is that a full-time thing or have you got a day job?”
- "You’ve got two minutes to change your life."
Jack knew the lines by heart – he’d spent hours watching BGT for past parody projects. But this time, he wasn’t just making videos in his garage. He was going live and undercover.
The Performance: Simon Takes the Stage
Disguised in a bright red suit and LED face mask, “The Hacker” strolled onto the stage and lured Cowell into becoming the act. With legs kicked up on the judge’s desk, Rhodes guided Simon through magic tricks, including a “mind-reading” act where he predicted Cowell picking the word melon on random, and an elaborate audience illusion that ended with everyone unknowingly staring at a green apple.
The trick? A deepfake-style video with Cowell’s AI voice guiding the audience through the illusion, all ending in Rhodes revealing the predicted word hanging on a card in midair.
Then came the finale: Rhodes leaned forward, smiled, and dropped the ultimate Cowellism:
“I didn’t really like it… I loved it.”
Cue the Golden Buzzer. The show lights up as glitter floods the stage – and a BGT first: someone awarding themselves the ultimate prize.
Breaking New Ground… In Disguise
Sure, contestants have accidentally hit the buzzer before (shoutout to Ben Trigger), but no one has ever pressed it for a judge, let alone while pretending not to be themselves.
Rhodes’ Hacker act wasn’t just a performance – it was a homage to his own 2024 final, layered with breadcrumbs to his identity. Everything from the prop table’s infamous squeak (which he includes in all his shows) to the object game embedded with callbacks to past routines was designed to throw viewers a trail.
Why isn’t He in the Live Final?
Simple: He chose not to. And for a wholesome reason.
“Me and my wife – we’re having a baby. That’s not a joke.”
Turns out, Jack Rhodes is trading live TV chaos for a brand-new kind of magic: fatherhood.
He revealed the news at the end of his behind-the-scenes YouTube video, noting that he didn’t want to miss the birth of his child for anything – even red leather and prime-time drama.
The real question remains: will Jack switch to dad jokes from now on? How about his dad joke game?
And speaking of which: What’s the worst dad joke you’ve ever heard growing up? Share it in the comments.
Ever Wonder How Jack Rhodes Predicted the Object You Were Looking At?
Here’s the magic behind it: As the objects spun, moved, and rotated, something special happened. Among the chaos, one object – the green flashlight – held its position just a split second longer than the others. It was a subtle trick, but our brains are wired to spot patterns, and when something stands out like that, it grabs our attention. We naturally focus on whatever's moving, especially if everything else is still in comparison.
Now, to make the illusion even stronger, Rhodes added a clever twist: guiding the audience’s focus to nearby objects and making them move in a particular way. This added complexity gave the whole trick an air of mystery, but in reality, everyone was just looking at the last object that moved a little longer. Simple, yet genius.