Prepare to be heart-warmed: 89-year-old Britain’s Got Talent winner Colin Thackery has revealed he plans to give away his £250,000 prize.

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The army veteran, who was declared champion of the 13th series of ITV’s reality contest, has said he intends to donate much of the money to various causes, starting with the Royal Hospital Chelsea, where he lives.

“We've got a new centre that we've been wanting to build, a visitors centre, activity centre. I'd love to think that I set the whole thing off,” he told hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning.

The singer, who wowed audiences in the final with his cover of Love Changes Everything, also says he’ll hand out money to his family. “I've got grandchildren wanting to get on the property ladder and all that sort of thing and of course A-Levels and all that,” Thackery explained.

He previously said on spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent he planned to donate some of the money to a south London retirement and nursing home for former members of the British Army.

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8.16 million people tuned in to see Thackery win the contest, beating magician X (who was unmasked as 2018 Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Marc Spelmann), who finished in second place.

Authors

Thomas LingDigital editor, BBC Science Focus

Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.

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