Michael McIntyre to judge Britain's Got Talent

It has been revealed that comedian Michael McIntyre and former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff will join Amanda Holden as judges on the new series of Britain's Got Talent.

Michael and David will join the only remaining original judge Amanda, replacing Piers Morgan who has landed himself a primetime US chat show. Simon Cowell will remain on the show as a part time judge, returning to the show for the live stage of the contest. Ant and Dec will continue to host the prime time show.

Auditions for BGT will start in London on January 4th, with the new series expected to start on ITV1 in the late spring.

McIntyre enthused: 'I'm a massive fan of Britain's Got Talent and am extremely excited to be a judge on the new series. 'I was so thrilled when Simon Cowell asked me that I immediately wanted to run in to Ant and Dec's arms to celebrate.'

While McIntyre has years of experience on the stand-up circuit to draw on, Hasselhoff was a judge on America's Got Talent for four years before quitting last year.

In contrast to father-of-two McIntyre's clean-cut reputation, Hasselhoff's battle with alcohol issues has been well documented in the press in recent years.

Dance troupe Spelbound were the winners of this year's series.