Simon Cowell is worried because the next Britain’s Got Talent series has a severe dearth of talent.

A disappointed Cowell dubbed the latest auditions as the “worst ever”.

Cowell and fellow judges Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan apologised to the 1,600-strong audience at the Cardiff leg of the auditions for the poor show they had witnessed.

“You have just witnessed one of the worst days in Got Talent history,” the Daily Star quoted Cowell, as saying.

Among the performers were a dancing dog, which refused to dance, a teen whose talent was chopping wood with an axe and a 71-year-old belly dancer.

Simon told one dance troupe they were “appalling, awful and looked like a bunch of penguins”.

“This afternoon there have been no potential winners and no talent. It was one of the worst shows we’ve ever had,” Amanda said.