I was doing our live coverage of BGT on Twitter last night when Hollie Steel had her breakdown on stage. I don’t know about you, but it was very fraught and emotional, and even I had tears in my eyes. She genuinely looked devastated. Amanda looked devastated. Ant & Dec were – for once – speechless. Piers was conspicuously quiet, and Cowell was put on the spot to give the girl a second chance.

For Simon, it was a Catch 22 situation: Hollie and her mother were pleading for a second chance LIVE on national TV. What was he to do? Break the girl’s heart and take his Mr Nasty persona to new heights, or give her a second chance and risk the wrath of the nation for jeopardising another contestant’s chances? Faced with a tough decision, he didn’t really have much choice – he needed to promise Hollie a second chance to get her off the stage and keep the show running. You can’t really criticise Simon’s actions last night: he took the best action possible given the circumstances.

For Hollie, let me remind you of this: none of us know this kid. I’ve seen some supposedly adult people write some extremely nasty things about this girl. Whether she was genuinely upset or not, whether it was a tantrum or not, she doesn’t deserve all this vitriol. The Internet has a long memory, and I’d hate to think this child has a string of hateful messages left about her on various sites and message boards that she’ll discover and read as she grows up.

I’ve seen theories about her lack of tears, her pushy mother, her spoilt tantrum onstage

So, citizens of the Internet and Britain’s Got Talent fans: let’s get some perspective, shall we? Take a deep breath and prep yourselves for tonight’s final.

I know I can be as harsh as anyone else when it comes to critiquing reality TV contestants, but it’s not a proud day for the Internet when grown men and women start a #hatehollie campaign on Twitter. And accuse the child of being a spoilt stage school brat. And question her ability to produce tears when crying. I mean, do we honestly think that her breakdown was staged? She became overwhelmed and upset. Sure, she pushed the line between upset and tantrumming at one point, but let’s give her a break this once.

Even if it was staged, our noble tabloid press will no doubt find someone among the other acts who’ll give the story from backstage. There’ll be a disgruntled contestant or family member somewhere who’ll speak out and reveal if your suspicions are true. Until then, let’s assume we’re dealing with a 10 year old girl who got a little stage struck and simply wanted asecond chance.

I don’t, however, believe Hollie deserves to win tonight: the chaff has been removed and only the wheat remains apparently. Aiden Davies looks like a brilliant prospect. Stavros Flatley are a personal favourite of mine – funny, cute and irreverant. Susan Boyle, the Scottish internet sensation may also prove difficult to beat, although news reports in recent days may have tarnished her chances somewhat. This will be a tough final.

Unreality TV will be having a Britain’s Got Talent extravaganza tonight – we’ll be live on the Unreality TV Forum chatting about the show live, and I’ll be manning the Twitter desk, sharing the best tweets about tonight’s final! Feel free to join us!