Furious Simon Cowell slams Britain's Got Talent's new public voting rules as Sarah Ikumu loses

Simon Cowell is furious after his favourite contestant did not win in the finale of Britain's Got Talent, which aired on ITV on Saturday, 3 June. The host did not mince his words when criticising the show's format of not allowing the judges to cast their vote.

"I don't know who made the decision about the judges not having the casting vote," the shocked judge told The Daily Star. He was counting on golden buzzer act Sarah Ikumu, who entered the final as a wild card entrant chosen by the judges.

However, she could not impress the audiences enough as London-based musician Tokio Myers won the trophy by record votes. Though Cowell congratulated the 32-year-old pianist who won £250,000 in prize money and an appearance at the Royal Variety Performance, he vowed to end the audience voting in the upcoming season of BGT.

"I do think it will be the last time we do it as I do think we had some say in the first stage and I think you have to be consistent. It is always worth trying new things but next year we will probably go back to what we normally do," he added.

Previously, the judging panel – Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams –had the right to override viewers' decision on the final acts and could send a contestant of their choice to the top of the ladder. However, this year the format was different and as a result, Ikumu could not make it through. Apart from Myers, Issy Simpson, an eight-year-old magician and comedian Daliso Chaponda made it to the top three.

Cowell also slammed the public for voting emotionally and feared this might hamper the show's standard in future. "The public tend to go with their heart on these shows. The contestants trust the show and they think they can get something out of it. But if you are not going to get anything out of it that is when the standard drops."