It was 2008 when a 14-year-old George Sampson danced into the nation’s hearts and became just the second winner of Britain’s Got Talent.
The teenager from Warrington, now 31, won the final after beating tough competition from Signature, another dance act, and boy soprano Andrew Johnston.
His success and rise to fame also sent a remix of Singin’ in the Rain, from the 1952 musical of the same name, to the top of the UK charts after he danced to the song in the competition.
However, 16 years later, George has a very different career, having moved away from dancing and towards the world of playing online video games.
After impressing judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, and Piers Morgan, George took on a number of commercial and professional opportunities but ceased his relationship with Simon just a year after winning.
These days, he makes his living from Twitch, the interactive live-streaming service which has become popular with gamers and entertainers who produce live shows from their own houses.
George has been gathering a following from Fortnite, a popular game on the channel, but has also found surprising hits with Habbo Hotel and RuneScape, which were first released back in the early 2000s.
In his bio, George writes: ‘Hi there, My name’s George Sampson! I am 31 years young and I won the second series of Britain’s Got Talent in 2008, breakdancing to Singin in the Rain.’
He continues: ‘I started acting at 16, and have done many films, TV dramas and stage productions since. I have always gamed, and this year I started streaming!’
On top of Fortnite and Habbo Hotel, he also streams himself playing major titles from the Call of Duty and EAFC (formerly FIFA) game series’, attracting over 2,500 followers during his time on Twitch.
It seems George was inspired to start using Twitch after taking part in a charity event in 2022, where streamers would stay live for 24 hours to raise money for the Manchester Foundation Trust Charity.
The Britain’s Got Talent champion also connects with his followers on Instagram and TikTok, often speaking to them on live streams and exclusive broadcasts.
After winning the reality competition, George sustained a nasty injury while dancing and was told by doctors that returning to the floor might not be possible.
He said years later: ‘Around a year after winning Britain’s Got Talent I sustained a really bad back injury, and doctors told me I might not ever be able to dance again.
‘To be told bluntly, “No”, was devastating. [But] I’m stubborn. There was no chance I was going to stop dancing.’
Instead, he made his break in TV as Kyle Stack in Waterloo Road between 2011 and 2013 before appearing in series such as Mount Pleasant, Casualty, and The Dumping Ground.
In 2016 he revitalised his acting career after landing a recurring role as Ryan Harred on Emmerdale before bringing his TV career to a close shortly afterwards.
He did, however, make an emotional return to Britain’s Got Talent in 2019 after being told he would never dance again following that painful injury sustained shortly after winning the competition.
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