Lee Ridley (Professionally known as Lost Voice Guy), is a stand-up comedian from Newcastle who was crowned the winner of Series 12 of Britain's Got Talent, at the age of thirty seven. He surpassed Opera singer Paul Potts' record as the shows oldest winner by one year of age, only for Series 13 winner Colin Thackery to surpass his newly set record by a staggering fifty two years of age. He has cerebral palsy, which causes him to be unable to speak.
In his audition, he made remarks about being disabled, having his voice machine be the voice machine at the train station and post office, and about not giving up his train seat for another disabled man. After his audition, David described the act as 'hilarious from start to finish', with Alesha adding 'it was brilliantly funny and I can't wait to hear more'.
In the Semi-Finals, he made remarks about his audition being on YouTube yet the comments being disabled, his parents waiting to hear what his first word would be, not being able to find his voice, sending his computer with a note reading 'Press Play' to a radio interview rather than going himself, and questions buried in music. He culminated his performance by performing an 'Impression' of The Queen ordering the British Public to vote for Lost Voice Guy, or ‘The Corgi gets it'. Amanda remarked that it were 'really important that comedy pushes boundaries', with Simon adding that he 'was liking [Ridley's performance] until the midway point, but when you’ve got it, you’ve got it'. He won the public vote and advanced to the Final.
In the Final, he made remarks about getting a facelift, being known as 'The Lost Balance Guy' in bars, wondering why he people wanted to put his in a position wherein he could be stared at or laughed at, being a member of a Steps tribute band called Ramps, and about how the judges would be surprised if he ever auditioned for The X Factor as he couldn't sing, dance, or talk, before he 'sang' 'I'm Still Standing' by Elton John. Simon remarked ‘there’s nothing to judge here’ other than to say that Lee was an ‘Incredibly talented, nice, and funny guy.’ David added that Ridley's performance were ‘the ultimate example of turning something that might be a negative, losing [his] voice all those years ago, into a positive'. He then went on to win the Final and the series against fellow comedian Robert White.
After BGT[]
In November 2018, Lost Voice Guy performed on BBC Two comedy show Live at the Apollo. He also appeared on the New Year Special of Channel 4 show The Last Leg.
Lost Voice Guy toured around North Wales and potentially elsewhere across Britain in 2019. In February 2019, he appeared in an episode of a BBC Three TV Series named Jerk. He partook in America's Got Talent: The Champions, a spin-off of America's Got Talent featuring global Got Talent contestants, in 2019. He took part in the 5th Semi-Final on February 4th, but failed to make it to the Final. He also wrote a book entitled I'm Only In It For The Parking.
Before he began his performance a VT was shown of Ridley auditioning people to be 'The new voice of Lost Voice Guy.' He came onto the stage on the back of a mobility scooter with a driver driving it to begin his The Champions (Series 1) performance, he joked people now drove him to places as he saved his winnings from Series 12 especially for this. He then made remarks about having his own emoji, Simons plastic surgeon, being from Newcastle yet his voice being from PC World, and his father wanting him to play sports despite his bad reflexes. He then jokingly apologised to many women for using his disability to get kissed by them, as he left the stage the list from his tablet continued. Simon remarked that what he found funny was the fact that Ridley was 'laughing before the jokes' as he knew what jokes would come off of his tablet next. He did not advance through to the Final of The Champions.
He appeared as a guest on Lorraine in October 2019, where he discussed the fact that Meghan Markle was a fan of his, how his life had changed since his BGT win in Series 12, and the fact that he was going on tour in 2020 which would be him answering silly questions about his disability that fans would ask him, later stating that he used jokes about his disability as a defence mechanism as he felt as if nobody could laugh at him, if he laughed at himself first.
In April 2020, he contributed to live telethon The Big Night In on BBC One, in partnership with Children In Need and Comic Relief by providing Comedy from home.
In Winter 2020, he performed alongside fellow comedians Francine Lewis, Robert White, Steve Royle, Daliso Chaponda and Katherine & Joe O'Malley as part of a skit by David Walliams known as 'Comedy Christmas Calendar' which occurred during the Britain's Got Talent Christmas Spectacular.
In 2021, he appeared as a special guest upon an episode of Dave's 'Question Team'.[1]
In March 2021, Ridley appeared upon a pre-recorded segment of Comic Relief, which was most likely filmed at his home potentially due to COVID-19 Restrictions, several media personalities such as newsreaders, actors, comedians, & comedic duos who also filmed their segments in vehicles, workplaces or their homes told a singular joke. In his brief segment Ridley told but the first half of his joke about having once been a part of a disabled Steps tribute band known as Ramps once again.
On Friday 24th December 2021 Ridley fronted ITV's 'Christmas Comedy Club With Lost Voice Guy'. The following year on Saturday 24th December 2022 Ridley fronted a second edition of ITV's 'Christmas Comedy Club With Lost Voice Guy'.
In January 2023, Ridley appeared upon an episode of the BBC Two's 'Robson Green's Weekend Escapes'.[2]
Trivia[]
- He is the first winner since Richard Jones in Series 10 to perform in the first half of the Final.