Amanda Holden has said ITV's Britain’s Got Talent will “be leading the way” when it returns to screens later this year.

The 49-year-old, who is a judge on the ITV series alongside Simon Cowell, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon, made the comments as she hosted her morning breakfast radio show on Heart.

She told fellow presenters Ashley Roberts and Jamie Theakston: “I spoke to the producers yesterday and we remain hopeful that there’ll be a big family audience for BGT and I’m just going to say, we will be leading the way for the future in TV in how people will watch our show live.”

Holden confirmed she was referring to a studio audience, adding: “Yes, we’re going to be leading the way on how our audience sees Britain’s Got Talent this year.”

The series was one of many forced to halt production due to the coronavirus.

When will filming on Britain's Got Talent continue?

Pre-recorded audition stages were aired on ITV, but the next stage of filming and live shows were unable to take place, with ITV saying it hoped to continue the series later this year.

During the final audition episode, which aired at the end of May, the judges were wowed by a Whitney Houston tribute singer.

Cowell said a performance from Belinda Davids, 43, from Cape Town, South Africa, who closed the show with her rendition of Houston’s hit One Moment In Time, was “the moment we’ve been waiting for”.

Amanda Holden presents Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston from 6.30am until 10am on weekdays.