Comedian Alan Carr has spoken out about his recent 'snub' by ITV for a role on the Britain's Got Talent judging panel.

The Chatty Man star was previously seen by many as the natural choice to succeed David Walliams on the panel but this was not to be when Strictly's Bruno Tonioli joined the line-up.

Alan only found out that he was in the running to be the show's newest judge through reports in the media.

Alan Carr speaks out about BGT 'snub' and awkward meeting with Simon Cowell

Alan Carr told The Sun in an interview: “I was driving along the M25 and then it’s, ‘ping, ping, ping’ on my phone. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, someone’s died — or my sex tape has come out!’

“So I pulled over and it was messages saying I’d got the job and it was all in the papers. Then I had a meeting with them and they said, ‘Oh yeah . . .’ and they said I’d find out.”

However, he later discovered through the papers that he did not get the ITV role, saying: “I don’t really know what went on. It was that awful thing of people saying I was devastated. I was on the set of my sitcom, which I wrote and I’m producing, so I was not devastated about not being on BGT."

He added: “I was with my friends saying: ‘You never told us!’ . . . I was never told!”

Soon after the news that Bruno Tonioli was given the role, Alan Carr's pal and current BGT judge Amanda Holden threw a party but neglected to tell the comedian that Simon Cowell would be there.

He said: “I go through the door and, oh great, Simon’s in there.

“So, as I always do, with my best humour I went over there and said, ‘My wrist has been hurting all weekend practising that bloody buzzer and you went for Bruno.’

Simon apparently responded:  "Alan, that’s showbusiness".

Alan added: "It was just the worst time to meet someone. Of all the people, I was like, ‘Oh s**t!’ “But it is showbiz, isn’t it? And I like Bruno. My only regret is I love working with Amanda — it would have been lovely.”