Amanda Holden has dismissed the possibility of staging the Britain's Got Talent live shows without a studio audience.

The series is due to go on hiatus after the pre-recorded auditions have finished airing due to the coronavirus pandemic, with current social distancing guidelines making the usual bombastic live shows impossible at present.

One possibility is that the live episodes could take place later in the year without an audience, but Holden - judge since Got Talent started in 2007 - says that would "never" happen.

"All of the main judges have been given a date to hold in early autumn to see if it works live," she told HuffPost UK.

"But we would never do it without an audience because we've always said the British public is the fifth judge.

"So we can't do it without them – it would be no fun without them! We'll see what happens, but we are planning to do it this year."

The final auditions episode of this year's show is due to transmit on ITV on May 23.