Amanda Holden reckons she is better at rejecting acts on Britain’s Got Talent than the other judges because she has had so many knock-backs herself.

The actress sits on the ITV reality show’s panel with Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams, and said that she had a better idea of what it was like to get a “No” at auditions than the others.

She said: “Of course it’s fine choosing those who go through but, as an actress, I understand more than the other judges what it feels like to be rejected and what that audition really means to people.

Amanda Holden
Amanda Holden (Yui Mok/PA)

“Even though David’s acted, he’s not auditioned, so I think I’m the one of all of us who knows the best way to let somebody down, without giving them false hope or telling them they’re rubbish. For instance, you can say they’re actually good but not as good as they should be for the show.”

Amanda went on: “Believe me, I’ve had many mixed fortunes at auditions when people have said, ‘No, no, no!’ just as I’ve started performing or stopped me in the middle of a song… humiliating!”

The 44-year-old has been a judge on the series since the first year and said: “I certainly don’t feel like a veteran on the show even though I’ve been on it for nine years. I still feel new every time I do a new series.

“Even after all this time I still think on the first day, ‘Oooh, how do I do this?’ or worse, ‘What happens if this year there’s no talent?’. Actually that’s never happened and every time I take part, it’s so exciting to see all the new acts.”

David Walliams, Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden Britain's Got Talent
The Britain’s Got Talent judges (ITV)

The mum-of-two added that the atmosphere had changed since all of the judges had become parents: “Since Simon’s had Eric, it means we can all talk openly about our children, which makes it so much more relaxing and real than it used to be. Before we always had to have these covert conversations because Simon didn’t have kids and just wasn’t interested in nappies and the problems of not getting any sleep.

“Nowadays we can freely say things like, ‘Oh guess what Hollie (Amanda’s eldest daughter) did last week, she sang this or that’ and Simon will chip in and go, ‘Eric can do dinosaur impressions’ which actually makes the rest of us go, ‘Er, really?’. I mean, after all, he is only one!”

“But really it’s so sweet, as he goes off on that whole, ‘He’s so amazing’, proud dad thing. Before, he used to look at us and go, ‘Boring!’.”

Amanda Holden is fronting the Alpen Brighter Mornings challenge, encouraging the public to eat a bowl of Alpen every day for seven days to be in with a chance of winning the ultimate brighter morning. For details go to www.alpenmornings.co.uk.