Amanda Holden Terrified By Haunting Act On Britain's Got Talent

'Britain's Got Talent' judge Amanda Holden was given a paranormal experience she'll never forget live on the ITV show, when a scary ghost act pushed her to the limit of her fears.

The eerie act called The Haunting was performed during the show's semi-final and frightened Amanda so much that she accidentally dropped an F-bomb during the broadcast, which resulted in her having to issue an apology.

The routine was performed by a magician named Elizabeth who started off by asking Amanda and fellow judge Simon Cowell to face each other. The magician then told an already spooked Amanda to close her eyes before making her feel like she'd been touched by the unseen hand of the ghost of a woman called Agatha.

Amanda was then taken onto the stage where the magician told her, "I've been researching Agatha these last few months and I've learnt that her daughter was just 11 years old when she was cruelly taken away from her." The performer then announced, "I want to show you now, something that was special to her daughter," before leading the judge off stage and to a dingy room.

Elizabeth sat Amanda in a chair opposite Agatha's daughter, Florence. Moments later a creepy box next to her started to move on its own. Amanda was instructed to open the box and read aloud the letter inside. Amanda sounded clearly shaken as she tried to read the letter, which said "dearest Amanda, I've been with you longer than you realise. Since we first met I've never left your side. On this day my daughter Florence was cruelly taken from me and I've spent several lifetimes searching for her."

The magician then held a sheet up in front of Florence. Seconds later the sheet was lowered, Florence was gone and the magician stepped back and vanished in a dark corner of the room, leaving Amanda alone facing a large mirror.

A few moments later Amanda screamed as Florence pounced on her from the other side of the room, but that wasn't the last of the scares. The mirror suddenly shattered and the ghost of Agatha stepped through it towards Amanda and slowly led the terrified judge back to the stage.

A clever switch meant that by the time Amanda found herself in front of the audience again, Agatha had been replaced by Elizabeth. The moment Amanda noticed this she went to take a swing at her and it was at this moment that a swearword dropped out.

The moment, which was broadcast before the watershed, was seen by 5.5 million viewers live and within 24 hours has notched up a further million views on YouTube. The act and Amanda's outburst prompted almost 200 complaints to the television watchdog, most of which were about the scary nature of the act itself, rather than Amanda's choice of language.

Once she was safely back behind the judges' desk, Amanda said "I just really want to apologise if I said anything. I said a really terrible word." The judge, who had been close to tears, added, "I know there are kids watching, I know my kids are watching, so massive apologies. I can honestly say I feel terrified."

The show's presenter Ant McPartlin added to the apology moments later, saying "we'd like to apologise if you heard any bad language there from Amanda. She was very, very scared as you could see."

Although the act wasn't voted through to the final, which takes place on Sunday 2nd June, there is a chance that Elizabeth could make another appearance as the judges' wildcard. After all, it seems that Agatha has unfinished business... at the end of the routine, Elizabeth told Amanda, "the reason that Agatha is connected to you is because someone very close to you is connected to her daughter, he just doesn't realise it yet."

A clip of Simon from an older episode of the show then flashed up on the screen at the back of the stage. In the clip Simon was heard saying, "I actually did have a ghost once in one of my houses." Elizabeth ended with a warning, "Simon, the night is still not over."