Simon Cowell shocks fans with wide-eyed, taut new look

Simon Cowell has raised eyebrows after an official picture for "Britain's Got Talent" appeared to show him with an eye-poppingly different face.

The 59-year-old telly star was compared by fans to a melting waxwork, someone in a face swap and the victim of a vicious blowtorching.

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He appeared in a line-up for the show alongside Ant McPartlin, Dec Donnelly and his co-stars on the judging panel David Walliams, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon.

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But rather than talking about Ant's return after a stint in rehab following his conviction for drink-driving, many people seemed more interested in Simon's new look.

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Tweets ranged from the surprised, such as: "The question is what the hell is going on with Simon Cowell's face?!?!" to the truly bizarre.

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Comedian Brian Limond, star of the BBC's "Limmy's Show," said Simon looked like he had been "blowtorched to death".

Another follower compared him to a "waxwork that's been heated up" and is melting.

One other remarked: "Simon Cowell... looks like someone’s done one of those f**king face swaps on him."

A further critic wrote: "If you say Beetlejuice three times, Simon Cowell will appear with that face and haunt your dreams forever."

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Another said simply: "Simon’s face looks like it’s melting."

Other fans suggested his face had been digitally altered after the shot was taken, with one tweeting: "Whoever had been tasked with Photoshopping Simon Cowell’s face in this official pic from #BGT deserves to be fired."

The music millionaire looked much more his usual self in other shots outside the London Palladium. However, not everything went entirely to plan.