On 31 May 2025, Harry Moulding’s life changed forever.
The day marked the grand finale of Britain’s Got Talent, where he was declared the winner of the series. At the age of 24, he wowed both the judges and the public with his mind-bending magic, securing his spot to perform at the Royal Variety Performance.
Now, over one year on from his win, the Blackpool-based magician spoke to BBC Bitesize to discuss his rise to stardom, school and the importance of remaining teachable.
Harry Moulding discusses his BGT journey and the power of never giving up
Kimberley: I know our audience are obviously of an age where they're going into exams, you're worrying about that, you're worrying about what's next for your future. And I think it's human nature, isn't it, to worry about everything that could go wrong, but actually you never really flip it and think, but what if everything goes right?
Harry: 100%, you know. And again, when I nearly got to the audition week, I was so close, that little voice was trying to tell me to pull out of the show. If I had, I never would have had the career and the life that I'm so blessed to have now. And sometimes you have to just give it a go and give it your best shot and see what can happen because never once did I ever expect the outcome to play out the way that it did, and it all started with just giving it a go in the first place.
Kimberley: Exactly. And nine times out of ten, things will go wrong every now and then, but you can learn from it. You can push forward. And I think the worst thing is if you'd never given it a go, you would never know. You would never know. And look at the life you're living now. I mean, if our audience are watching this and they're thinking Harry's got it nailed, I'd like a career like Harry's, what advice would you give to them?
Harry: So the advice from me would be some of the things that have helped me that I think really are transferable skills, because a lot of these really inspirational people that I get to meet, they share a lot of these same qualities. These are things I just try and practice and try and apply in my own life, in my own industry. But I think they can work in quite a few. Definitely remaining teachable and being willing to learn is a massive one. There are so many people that inspire me in so many different areas that I can always take something away from them. Hard work, discipline, practice, whatever skill, whatever industry it is, it just requires time and effort. But trust me, if you keep going at it, even though at first it's not easy, the rewards come later on, and that's definitely been my experience. And one of the other things for me that has really helped is just sharing. For me, it's magic with people, but also just speaking to people. The whole networking element of being able to engage with other people has created so many more opportunities. So that's something that I would definitely say. Trying to expand that pool of contacts that are out there has really helped me create opportunities that I never would have had otherwise.
Kimberley: So great to hear. There's a power in being a grafter, isn't there? And just keeping on going with it. And Harry, finally, if you could go back in time to speak to little Harry when he was ten, what advice would you give to him?
Harry: If I was going to give little Harry some advice, I wouldn't really try and steer little Harry too much away from what was organically, naturally meant to happen. I'd tell him to enjoy every single moment because for me it's easy to always look at the next thing. I'm someone who can be so driven, some would say driven but others might say obsessive to a point, and really proactive. It's easy to get carried away and constantly go into, "Right, we've just done this, here's the next thing. What next? What next? What next?" Really just taking time to pause and actually enjoy those moments and experience them. That would probably be the best bit of advice for ten-year-old me. Make sure that I'm really soaking in every single chapter of this journey.
Magical beginnings
Harry’s love for magic started when he was ten-years-old, after a magician performed in his primary school. The experience, which Harry recalled as ‘mind-blowing’, led to his mum buying him a magic set for Christmas, marking the start of his journey into the world of illusions.
What started as a passion quickly snowballed into an obsession. Harry described how his life changed overnight and soon he was testing out his new skills at school. “I’d be on the school bus in Year 7 and I’d try out these tricks that I was learning at home on the other kids,” he recalled.
But not all his tricks would go to plan and he remembers times when people in his class would call him out on it. “Naturally, because at the beginning I was learning, I wasn’t very good.”
Despite the learning curves, Harry emphasises the importance of not giving up on your dream, especially in the uncomfortable stages while honing your craft. In fact, he told Bitesize that it wasn’t until Year 11 that his class were impressed by his magic.
An important part of Harry’s development as a teenage magician was a work experience opportunity he created at a magic and illusion bar in Spain. After being unable to find an opening in the UK, he decided to pursue his passion overseas. “I wrote a letter to the owner and explained that I was a 14-year-old magician who’d love to pursue a career in magic.”
He was subsequently invited to an audition and offered a week-long work experience opportunity alongside the cast. Harry later went back for two weeks when he was 15 and a month when he was sixteen, before joining the theatre full-time and living in Spain for six years.
Magician Harry Moulding gives step-by-step instructions for learning your first magic trick
Kimberley: Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a magician? To be part of the wizarding world? Well, I've come here to Blackpool to meet Britain's Got Talent winner and magician Harry Moulding to find out. All right, Harry, I am an absolute magic novice. I don't know any tricks. So, I'm gonna look to you to teach me my very first magic trick.
Harry: Well, the reason why this is a perfect place to start is that this is one of the first tricks that I ever learned. So, for anyone, for anyone that's watching at home, if you have got no experience with magic, this might just be the place to start. So, all we need to do, and shall I actually perform it for you first just so you get an idea for it. All we do is, go at home, go into the cutlery drawer, go into your kitchen, and I want you to take out either a fork or a spoon. Watch closely. If you actually really focus on the fork, then maybe just about here. Slowly you can start to make that fork…
Kimberley: What!?
Harry: Float! Right about there.
Kimberley: Mind blown.
Harry: Okay. So now shall we get into the reveal? Now, some of you, if you don't know how this might work, then it all depends on a sleight of hand. Let me explain. Once you take the fork like this, what you really going to use is your forefinger. So, we can actually do this as we go along. Hold out your left hand like this. Are you left-handed or right-handed?
Kimberley: Right.
Harry: Right-handed. Place the fork like this in your left hand.
Kimberley: Okay.
Harry: Now remember, this is something that everyone can hopefully do as we go along. Feel free to pause this VT. Go and grab a fork and actually follow this along. All you do is take your right hand, like this. Now, what really happens if I show you from this side, all you're doing is you're using your index finger to hold the fork up. Now, I'll be honest, when you perform this for people live, people really do not realise it. It's more of an optical illusion because they think all of your fingers are on your wrist like that. When, in reality, if you watch closely, there's only three fingers there.
Kimberley: Yes.
Harry: So now if you hold your fingers as far away as possible, just to make it even more deceiving, there we go. And you can just hold it like this. Now, the main tips to remember with this trick is obviously make sure when you perform this, you're performing it from this side. If you start performing it like this, you might figure it out.
Kimberley: Game over.
Harry: However, if you give yourselves a bit of a wiggle like this, if you give a bit of motion, you only want to do this for a few seconds. You don't want to hold it for too long, because if they look at it for too long, they might notice the missing finger.
Kimberley: Yeah.
Harry: However, for a few seconds like this, slowly take your fingers away, give a bit of motion and that fork looks like it is floating. And then we go and wiggle those fingers up and down these seconds and then back. And that is just a normal fork. Well done.
Being resilient and facing self-doubt
Harry rose to national fame after winning the 2025 edition of Britain’s Got Talent, where he wowed the judges with his ambitious routines. But he very nearly didn’t make his audition at all. “I’ve always had a small voice in my head that [made me] second guess myself,” he said.
Harry had sent his application to be on the show, but was worried about making mistakes if he got through. He spoke to a friend and decided to make a list of things that could go wrong in the performance. “But then I also looked at what would happen if everything went right, what are the good things that come out of it? Even if I only get through the first round of the show. And it massively outweighed the downsides.”
Fuelled with self-belief and determination, Harry’s semi-final performance resulted in KSI giving him the golden buzzer and eventually led to him taking home the crown.
Since the victory, Harry has performed for famous names including former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, rapper Aitch and even King Charles.
One of the biggest reasons Harry took the plunge and applied for the show was because auditions were held in his hometown, Blackpool.
“I feel so lucky to have been brought up here because it literally is the entertainment capital,” Harry said. He also celebrates the Blackpool based performers who inspired him and went on to become national treasures.
“Never once did I expect the outcome to play out the way that it did,” he said. “And it all started with just giving it a go in the first place.”
So what advice does the Britain’s Got Talent winner have for young people? Harry emphasises the importance of transferable skills that can be applied across all industries as well as your own life. “Remaining teachable and being willing to learn is massive,” he tells us. “Hard work, discipline, practice, whatever skill, whatever industry it is. It just requires time and effort, but trust me, if you keep going at it even though at first it’s not easy, the rewards come later on.”
Looking back on his journey so far, Harry says he would encourage his younger self to enjoy every moment and soak in each chapter of his story. “There’s so much joy in the fact that we’ve got so many more opportunities. It’s about putting one foot in front of another and giving it a go.”
This article was published in September 2026
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