A 52-year-old Baptist minister has appeared on ITV's ever-popular "Britain's Got Talent," wowing the judges with a hilarious stand-up comedy routine. Allen Finnegan is the lead pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Netherton, Merseyside.
Appearing in his dog collar, Finnegan's stand-up drew on his profession as a minister. "I'll tell you a bit about myself. I'm a Baptist minister, actually. People often don't know what that means. It's a bit like being a vicar or a priest, except we don't wear frocks... as long as we don't count Tuesdays, cos' that's my day off.. I can do what I want!" he said, eliciting a laugh from judge Alesha Dixon.
After drawing rapturous applause for his innovative routine, Finnegan received unanimous praise from the judges; Alesha called him a "breath of fresh air" and Amanda Holden admitted he made her "want to go to church". He received four firm "yes" votes from the panel!
In a previous interview with the Baptist Times, Finnegan said that his act was "all about being a minister of a church and how bad I am at it".
The pastor also revealed that his interest in comedy was sparked while studying for the ministry; part of his seminary training involved going on a six-week course run by the Comedy Trust.
"I had no intention of ever doing comedy," he admitted. "I was just doing it to compare the differing skills between preaching and standup.
"I really enjoy doing standup now and feel it has opened my up to a whole new audience. I'm hoping to break down some of the stereotypical images of ministers, but then again I'm not your stereotypical minister.
"Faith can be fun," Finnegan concluded.
The minister is now expected to go through to the live semi-finals which have postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic