Darcy Oake suffered agonies of indecision before entering Britain’s Got Talent

BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT sensation Darcy Oake has revealed why he almost missed the appearance that changed his life.

Illusionist Darcy’s act stunned audiences, captivated the judges and left viewers amazed last year.

But the Canadian says it was far from certain that he’d even take to the stage.

“I bounced the idea around in my head multiple times,” Darcy told The Sunday Post.

“I was working on cruise ships a lot and doing spots on other people’s shows.

“I wanted to be on the platform that BGT affords, but I didn’t want to risk being voted straight off by the judges.

“It plays with your head and I spent ages thinking I should and then shouldn’t do it.

“But there comes a certain point where you’re at peace accepting that you don’t know the outcome.

“All you can do is be prepared and hope for the best.

“Going on the show ended up being the smartest decision I ever made, that’s for sure.”

Darcy’s act, a mind-boggling display involving doves, was a sensation that left the judges open-mouthed and then full of praise.

Even the notoriously hard to please Simon Cowell said: “You are, without doubt, the best magician we’ve ever had on the show.

“I think we’ve uncovered a star.”

But Darcy says he was so caught up in the act that the reaction came as a total surprise.

“It was incredible,” he confides. “I started working on that routine when I was about 12, so I’ve been doing it forever.

“It was almost as if I was zoned out, so when I finished and everyone stood up, it was hard to take in.

“When you hear Simon Cowell saying those sort of things it was so overwhelming.

“Taking a step back and trying to get a perspective of what was happening to me was hard.”

The BGT appearances made such an impression he was given his own ITV special.

Hosted by Christine Bleakley, it included one trick that involved getting random members of the audience to shout out numbers which just happened to be the exact sequence on his credit card.

“Seeing the audience’s amazement is the moment you build for and hope for,” smiles Darcy, neatly side-stepping my attempt to find out how it was done.

The show combined sleight of hand moments and set pieces that were a lot more involved and some were downright dangerous.

And he admits those watching aren’t the only ones with butterflies in their stomachs.

“The dangerous ones make me really nervous.

“You can rehearse any routine as much as you want, but the second you bring it in front of a live audience, the dynamic changes.

“Everything is a little bit different and there’s that lack of control that makes me worry.

“With the dangerous stunts we are very cautious and try to make sure nothing tragic happens, but you can only prepare and hope for the best.”

Darcy’s getting ready to take his magic on the road with a UK tour.

Tickets are on sale and the tour includes an appearance in Glasgow.

With his grandfather having put together a family tree that points to Scots roots, Darcy is hoping to spend some of his time north of the border doing a bit of digging.

“My family heritage down the line is Scottish and I’d love to find out more.”

Putting together an act that leaves audiences gobsmacked doesn’t come easy and he says it’s something he’s had to focus on to the exclusion of all else.

“I’ve quit or been fired from any real job in about two weeks,” he says.

“My attention has always been on this and anything else just got in the way.

“If I had a 9 to 5 job that would be eight hours a day I couldn’t do what I wanted to be doing.

“I worked on a golf course once but that didn’t go too well and I think I got fired in about four days.

“And then I worked in a restaurant but that didn’t even last four days.

“I was the world’s worst employee.

“I decided that it had to be this and nothing else and from that point on I just concentrated 100% on this.”