Ex-Big Brother psychologist David Wilson has blasted Britain’s Got Talent for exploiting contestants.

In the Daily Mail, Wilson compared the ITV1 show to 18th century public executions.

“Rarely has a television show been more badly misnamed than Britain’s Got Talent,” he said. “The producers might like to pretend the programme is inspired by the quest for entertainment gold. But, in truth, the base metal of cynical exploitation lies at its heart.

“It is a celebration of banality and eccentricity, not of genuine talent. In this modern version of the Victorian freak show, too many of the contestants have neither the real star quality nor the psychological equipment to cope with the sustained, harsh glare of the public spotlight.”

He continued: “The three star judges keep telling us that this awesome success is based on the British public’s desire to be cheered up in the midst of a recession.

“There may be an element of truth in this, but I fear there are darker, less uplifting forces at work; a combination of smug mockery mixed with sentimentality, vulgarity and titillation.”

Comparing the show to Big Brother, he added: “These are the same elements that I saw in the notorious TV series Big Brother, for which I was briefly employed as an adviser.

“The producers assured me the programme was a genuine psychological study of the human condition, but I soon found it was nothing of the sort.

“The real agenda was to attract viewers by manufacturing controversy and conflict. Talk of ethical standards was a smokescreen. I wanted no part of this deceit and resigned within a week. A similar lack of real ethics is all too obvious in Britain’s Got Talent.”