Scottish singer Susan Boyle's unexpected defeat in the finals of "Britain's Got Talent" reality show Saturday has helped U.K. bookmakers make a fortune, British TV channel Sky News reported Sunday. Bookmakers have avoided huge payouts with Boyle's surprise defeat.
Susan Boyle, a 48-year-old unemployed church volunteer, was considered as a favorite in this year's reality show but was unexpectedly beaten by street dance group Diversity from southeast England.
The Diversity street dancers, who came from Essex and include three sets of brothers, were the bookmakers' only sixth favorite on the list of 10 finalists while Boyle had attracted the lion's share of the bets to win, Sky News said.
"We are in shock and have made a six figure sum in what has been the biggest surprise in reality TV history. Susan was a certainty," Sky News quoted William Hill's spokesman Rupert Adams as saying.
According to William Hill's estimate, a sum of over 3 million British pounds ($4.86 million) was bet on the show in the final hour.
The street dancers have won 100,000 British pounds ($162,000) and will now perform at the Royal Variety Performance in front of the Queen.
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