Former Britain's Got Talent winner Ashleigh Butler returned to the world of TV talent shows on America's Got Talent: The Champions last night (January 14) with her new dog Sully.
Ashleigh won BGT in 2012 with her beloved pooch Pudsey, who sadly passed away in 2017 after being diagnosed with leukaemia.
[Ashleigh and Pudsey]
The trainer performed with Sully for judges Simon Cowell, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel, with a routine set inside a boxing ring.
The duo received a standing ovation from the judges, with Mel B commenting: "From start to end, it made me smile and gave me a warm feeling. I can see how much you love each other, I absolutely loved it. Well done."
However the routine sadly didn't manage to win them enough public votes to make it through to the next round.
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During the episode, Ashleigh reflected on Pudsey's passing and shared his connection to Sully.
"I don’t think you can know when a moment is going to change your life," she said. "On my 11th birthday, my mum gave me a box, and there was Pudsey looking up at me. He was definitely an attention-seeker.
"We set a bar that we had to break through, and be even better than that. Britain fell in love with him. We were thrown into this world that we knew nothing about.
"About a year after our we won Britain's Got Talent, [Sully] came along. They grew to love each other very, very quickly [...] Sully looked up to Pudsey. He became a little bit protective over me."
Following the show Ashleigh also praised Sully for his performance on Instagram, sharing a clip from their routine and writing: "I am so so so proud of Sullivan, he loved this performance and he coped so well in such a crazy atmosphere."
America's Got Talent: The Champions airs on NBC, with Netflix airing the show in the UK.
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Stephanie is a freelance news writer, who previously covered WWE and AEW for Digital Spy.
After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.
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