BGT stars’ net worths ranked – from judge with eye-popping net worth to surprising star bringing up the rear
Can you guess who comes out on top?
19 Apr 2025, 18:45
Tags: Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, Britain’s Got Talent, Bruno Tonioli, Entertainment, KSI, Simon Cowell
Series 18 of Britain’s Got Talent is barrelling towards its finale, due to air on May 31.
So far this year, we’ve had a fake audition from KSI’s brother. We’ve had flash mob choir auditions – liked by some, lambasted by others as “cringe”. And we’ve had a sword-swallowing entrant whose antics left some viewers feeling a little… queasy.
We’re yet to top Amanda Holden’s record for the most Ofcom complaints over an item of clothing. Until, that is, viewers have found out just how much the judges who have graced the BGT studio this year are reportedly worth…
Britain’s Got Talent judges net worths ranked from highest to lowest
Simon Cowell – £451m
In first place is, you guessed it, Simon Cowell.
Simon is the second oldest of this year’s four, or five including gamer KSI, Britain’s Got Talent judges. Assuming someone’s overall wealth tends to grow over time, this gives him something of a competitive advantage over his fellow stars of the small screen. But age alone doesn’t account for his massive wealth.
Simon has been entrepreneurial from the start. Nor did it do him any harm to be born with a silver spoon. His mum was a socialite and ballet dancer; his father developed properties and worked as music industry executive.
You could probably call Simon Cowell a nepo baby. He went to private schools in Ascot and Dover, and he got his first job in the music biz thanks to his dad, who was an executive at EMI Music Publishing.
With the connections he made working there, he set up Fanfare Records. Then S Records. One near-miss at bankruptcy and some hard graft later, he landed a number one hit with Robson Green and Jerome Flynn.
He wrote in his 2004 memoir I Don’t Mean To Be Rude, But… that they made him his first million.
As a judge on Pop Idol – which he had pitched to ITV in the first place – he leveraged his position as a record producer to sign the two two finishers in 2001. Will Young and Gareth Gates. Heard of them?
He co-created The X Factor franchise in 2004 and the Got Talent franchise in 2007. Creating a franchise means making money every time anyone sets up an extension of it.
On top of that, his annual salary is reportedly in the tens of millions. American Idol once paid him $33m for a single season, it’s claimed. Britain’s Got Talent, by comparison, pays him a reported £1.5m per episode.
KSI – £75m
KSI appeared as a guest judge on Britain’s Got Talent earlier this year, and sits comfortably in second place in terms of overall net worth.
This is despite being much younger than his counterparts. He’ll turn 32 in June.
Full name Olajide Olayinka Williams “JJ” Olatunji, KSI’s net worth is thought to be in the region of £75m. He grew up in Watford and went to the fee-paying Berkhamsted School.
KSI is a YouTube star and gamer. He had a million subscribers in 2012 and joined the YouTube group Sidemen a year later.
He’s an occasional music producer, sometime boxer and business co-owner. If you’ve ever drunk a PRIME energy drink, you’ve helped fill KSI’s heavy coffers.
Amanda Holden – £9m
In third place, Amanda Holden’s net worth is likely somewhere around £9m. It could well be higher, though: her Surrey mansion alone is thought to be worth £7m.
Celebrity Net Worth lists her current salary for Britain’s Got Talent as £1.4m. However, for a long time, she took home £700k per season. Then, in 2020, she and fellow judge Alesha Dixon learned that David Walliams was taking home double that.
Understandably, they were not best pleased, and demanded equal pay. Simon Cowell agreed to increase their salaries to match Walliams’.
Amanda makes thousands of pounds per month as a social media influencer, too. Hafi estimates her monthly income from social media revenue streams to be upwards of £10k.
Bruno Tonioli – £6.8m
Italian dancer, choreographer, TV personality and author Bruno Tonioli is reportedly worth close to £7m.
His estate includes a home in the Hollywood Hills for which he paid £2.1m ($2.8m) in 2017.
In his capacity as a choreographer, he has worked with the likes of Tina Turner, Duran Duran and the Rolling Stones.
He co-created the 2007 BBC series DanceX, as well as the American version. He’s been in numerous films, spent years on Strictly and, at 69 years of age, is the oldest of the current Britain’s Got Talent judges.
Alesha Dixon – £6m
Reports put Alesha Dixon‘s total net worth, at time of writing, at around £6m.
She’s a jack of many trades: singer, rapper, dancer, model, jewellery and fragrance businesswoman, gym chain creative director, and of course, talent judge.
Over the years, Alesha has promoted brands such as Toblerone, Avon and Ford, and in 2009 she became involved with the gym chain LA Fitness.
She has also raised money for Comic Relief, been an ambassador for Help a London Child, and patronised the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust.
In her capacity as a judge of talent, she has appeared on several shows within the Got Talent franchise, as well as The X Factor and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
