Ant and Dec create shrine to Simon Cowell backstage at Britain’s Got Talent as judge continues recovery from broken back

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ANT and Dec have found a cute way to keep Simon Cowell close to them as the Britain’s Got Talent judge recovers from surgery.

The hilarious hosts, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, put a framed picture of the TV mogul backstage of BGT and stared lovingly at it.

Britain’s Got Talent host Ant and Dec put up a shrine to Simon Cowell to show they missed him

They posted the picture on Instagram to honour Simon who was forced to miss some of the BGT episodes after breaking his back in Los Angeles.

“Missing you @simoncowell, but we always have you near in our backstage den 😂 @BGT tonight at 8pm,” Ant and Dec captioned the hilarious pic.

Alongside the framed photo of Simon, the boys decorated the shrine with plastic boxes full of snacks such as crisps and chocolates.

Simon will miss shows for just the second time in Britain’s Got Talent’s 14-series history.

Simon Cowell will be missing shows of BGT for only the second time ever

He remains at his home in Malibu after breaking his back in an electric bike accident

BGT is back and the semi-finals are all prerecorded with no audience but October’s final will be live

The Syco founder did not judge the auditions in series five back in 2011.

But now he will miss all five BGT semi-finals and the Grand Final in October after suffering a broken back.

Cowell fell off an electric bike while in Malibu, almost becoming paralysed and needed surgery to correct his back.

The 60-year-old has been told to rest up, meaning he is unable to take part in the BGT live rounds.

Ashely Banjo has taken over from Simon while the mogul recovers

After a thorough search, ITV have replaced Cowell with Ashley Banjo who won the competition back in 2009 with dance group Diversity.

The 31-year-old will take over the media mogul’s seat for all five semi-finals and the final – while he will also be performing with Diversity during the first show.

Simon said of Banjo: “Ashley will be a fantastic addition to the panel. He knows the power of the show and the responsibility of it.

“I couldn’t think of a better person to sit in my seat whilst I follow doctor’s orders. I hate that stupid bike.”

In the meantime, veteran judge Amanda Holden has been promoted to Simon’s position of head judge until he returns

There is also a promotion for Amanda Holden, who will become Head Judge in Simon’s absence.

The 49-year-old actress has also been a judge on the show since the first series.

Britain’s Got Talent came back on the screens on Saturday, September 5 on ITV.

The series will consist of of five semi-finals, which will take place every Saturday.

They are all be pre-recorded and with no audience, before the Grand Final in October which will be live.