Fern Britton was originally on the ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ panel.
The ‘This Morning’ star was originally part of the judging lineup for the ITV show as she sat alongside Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan for the pilot episode, before being replaced by Amanda Holden for the first series in 2007.
Claudia Rosencratz – who commissioned the show – told Metro.co.uk: "I did the pilot of it and in the pilot we had Piers Morgan.
"I liked the fact that Piers Morgan was unpredictable and kind of very tabloid in his views so I thought he’d be quite an interesting person to have on a panel – very different to anyone that’s been on any other panel.
"And I had Fern Britton on the panel, the original pilot we did. She laughs so much, and she’s a great laugher. And when Fern laughs she literally just cries and I like that, it made me laugh."
Simon and Amanda have remained on the panel since its launch, with David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre also taking part before Alesha Dixon and David Walliams joined in 2012.
Claudia also revealed how boss Simon insisted on being part of the panel, which she wasn’t immediately keen on.
She added: "Simon Cowell insisted on being on the pilot. I said, ‘But that’s not helpful because it’s going to limit me and when I can play the show, because there’s gonna be a great show. It’s gonna be fabulous.’
"And he said, ‘I’ll just do the pilot.’ So then we did this pilot, and I remember going down to watch it and oh my god, I laughed so much I was nearly sick.
"This man came out with a concrete mixer on his head. And he did this act with this concrete mixer on his head. And he just carried it, that was basically the act.
"So he came to the panel, and Simon Cowell says, ‘Well, I’m sorry, nobody is ever going to pay to watch you do that.’ And he said, with this concrete mixer still on his head, ‘They do, they already pay!’ "