Britain’s Got Talent judges feel “physically sick” after escape act almost drowns

The performer caused a real splash during Saturday’s audition show (23rd May), after locking himself in a tank of water, apparently holding his breath for over four minutes as he broke through five locks – with the help of David Walliams.

https://youtu.be/TrwyE8mWPKg

When first taking to the stage, the Norwegian act explained the trick to the judges – Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Walliams – telling them: “Houdini’s record was three minutes 30 seconds. And at that time there is a possibility of dying.”

Then, while Wedoy lowered himself into the tank, his assistant Hans handed five keys to the judges. As they were informed, only one of these keys could open a critical lock. And, just to make things more interesting/more-likely-to-cause-a-death, Hans instructed Walliams to pick four of these keys to be sliced apart.

With Wedoy having held his breath for over two minutes at this point, Walliams rushed on stage with the one remaining key, which – would you believe it – was the right one. It was then down to the escape artist to pick his way through another four locks trapping him in the tank.

Finally, with paramedics on standby, a breathless Wedoy emerged from the water after four minutes and 24 seconds.

Receiving a standing ovation from the crowd, the judges praised the performance, Dixon claiming she’d felt “physically sick” from all the tension.

Wedoy left the stage with four yeses, sending him into the next round.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time the would-be Houdini has appeared on a Got Talent show. Wedoy, who also goes by the stage name Lord Christian, featured on Norway's Got Talent in 2017, performing a similar water escape in the audition round. He made it all the way to the contest’s semi-finals where he smashed through wooden planks held by the show’s presenters with samurai weapons –all while completely blindfolded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX40J_hSA5U

In the same year, he also featured in both Sweden's Got Talent and Germany's Got Talent, passing the audition round but failing to reach the final.

Wedoy also runs a successful YouTube page (80 million views), which features instructional videos about how to hold your breath and escape from a tiny water tank. Just in case you want to take up a new hobby during lockdown.*

*Do not do this at home – you’ll spill water everywhere.

Britain’s Got Talent airs Saturdays on ITV at 8pm. If you’re looking for more to watch check out our TV guide.