Susan Boyle was forced to miss out on taking part in the new Britain’s Got Talent Christmas special due to coronavirus restrictions.

The chart-topping singer shot to global fame when her BGT audition went viral in 2009, and has since gone on to become one of the show’s biggest ever global success stories.

On Christmas Day, the first ever festive special of the ITV talent show will air on ITV, with many big-name contestants from BGT history returning to perform in the episode.

But while many fans were surprised to see that the I Dreamed A Dream star was absent from the line-up of the pre-recorded show, Susan’s representative has now insisted she would have taken part if it hadn’t gone against Covid-19 restrictions.

A spokesperson told Metro: “Susan, unfortunately, couldn’t appear on Britain’s Got Talent as her area in Scotland was in a tier 4 category, (the highest tier of Covid-19 restrictions) at the time of filming and she felt it prudent to stay at home and not breach the order by travelling to London.”

Susan isn’t the only absentee, though, with Simon Cowell once again replaced by Diversity leader Ashley Banjo, as the TV mogul was still recovering from back surgery when BGT was being filmed.

The judges will all be teaming up with former contestants to perform during the episode, with Amanda singing alongside Collabro and Alesha performing a festive classic accompanied by musician Tokio Myers.

Ashley and his fellow Diversity dancers will be teaming up with DVJ and George Sampson for an epic Christmas routine, while David will join a supergroup of BGT comics for a new comedy sketch.

Since her audition went viral 11 years ago, Susan has released eight studio albums, and completed her second UK tour earlier this year.

She has also collaborated with stars including Elaine Paige, Donny Osmond and Michael Crawford, performed for both the Queen and the Pope and received two Grammy nominations.

Britain’s Got Talent: Christmas Spectacular will air at 8pm on ITV.