The Ruby Red Performers are an amateur burlesque dancing troupe from the English seaside town of

Withernsea Withernsea is a seaside resort and civil parish in Holderness, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Its white inland lighthouse, rising around above Hull Road, now houses a museum to 1950s actress Kay Kendall, who was born in the town. The Pr ...

, near Hull.

Biography

In April 2015, twelve members of the Ruby Red Performers appeared on

series 9 The ninth series of the children's television series '' Hi-5'' aired between 11 June 2007 and 10 August 2007 on the Nine Network in Australia. The series was produced by Kids Like Us for Nine with Helena Harris as executive producer. This was t ...

of the primetime ITV variety show ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

''. They attended an audition held in the

Lowry Theatre The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early 20th-century painter L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England. The complex ope ...

in MediaCity Salford where they performed a routine dressed as 1950s cleaning women dancing to

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

's "

I Want to Break Free "I Want to Break Free" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by their bassist John Deacon. It appears on the album '' The Works'' (1984), and was released in three versions: album, single and extended. The track became a staple of t ...

". Early on into their routine,

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

pressed his buzzer to indicate that he did not like the act, but shortly afterwards there was a tempo change in the routine and the women stripped down to large pairs of underwear, much to the delight of the audience and judges. After their performance, Cowell admitted that he had pressed his buzzer too early and suggested that the British Royal Family might like to see the act perform. They were given four 'yes' votes by the panel, allowing them to progress in the competition. On 25 May 2015, The Ruby Red Performers performed live in the first semi final along with eight other acts but came in last place in the public vote, therefore not advancing to the final. The group began their routine dressed as lollipop ladies before stripping down to black underwear and exploding bras. Their routine received favourable comments from the judges but they were criticised for their physical appearance on Twitter by columnist

Katie Hopkins Katie Olivia Hopkins (born 13 February 1975) is an English media personality, columnist, far-right political commentator, and former businesswoman. She was a contestant on the third series of ''The Apprentice'' in 2007; following further app ...

and former

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

dancer James Jordan, with these comments being picked up by the national press. Jordan described the Ruby Reds as "fat old birds" whilst Hopkins, who is known for her outspoken vitriolic comments, said their act was about women "being confident about their bodies and eating pork pies". The group responded by tweeting a photograph of them all on the bus back to Withernsea eating pork pies. The group progressed to the semi-final, but did not reach the final of the competition.

Other appearances

On 13 April 2015, following their debut performance on ''Britain's Got Talent'', two members of the group gave their first television interview to

Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English actress, media personality, and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent show competition ''Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the ''Heart Brea ...

and

Phillip Schofield Phillip Bryan Schofield (born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter who works for ITV. He is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2002–present) and ''Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2014, 2018–present) alongside Holly ...

on the live daytime magazine show '' This Morning''. The group's leader, who goes by the name of Ruby, presented Holden with a pair of the nipple tassels worn by the ladies during their routine and Holden tried them out live on air. The group have continued to perform after their departure from ''Britain's Got Talent''.

References

External links

The Ruby Red Performers Official Twitter

The Ruby Red Performers Britain's Got Talent Audition Performance

The Ruby Red Performers Britain's Got Talent Semi Final Performance
{{Britain's Got Talent Britain's Got Talent contestants