Young rising stars in Milton Keynes left devastated as Britain's got Talent appearance is cancelled at the last minute

Three talented young siblings from MK have been left broken-hearted after their Britian’s Got Talent audition was cruelly cancelled at the last minute.

Johnson, Kale and Indiana Harris-Herbert formed The Stencil Pencils band during the 2020 lockdown as a homework project in the living room of their Wavendon home.

The youngsters, who are aged 13, 11 and seven respectively, soon shot to fame locally and were booked to appear at gigs all over the city.

By last summer, word of their talent had spread nationally and they appeared at headline events such as Camp Bestival as well as backing Sam Ryder during MK’s city status celebrations.

Kale, who is 11, has Asperger's syndrome, and his condition led the trio to be billed as ‘the world’s youngest Asperger’s band.’

It was during a performance at an Austism’s Got Talent event last Autumn that the singing siblings caught the eye of a talent scout for Britain’s Got Talent.

Their dad John said: “The talent scout asked if they would like to go straight to the auditions/performances at this year's BGT judges’ show at The London Palladium.

“The children were very excited and they worked extremely hard to keep up with the ever- increasing demands since October/ They’ve been filming last-minute rehearsal videos at Stadium MK, filling in lots of forms and applying for licencing from Milton Keynes Council .”

The news had to be kept strictly secret, on the request of BGT producers, said John.

“They kept being told their audition was to be kept totally confidential..I. communicated tirelessly with senior producers and we all did everything they requested of us,” he said.

The filming was due to take place this Sunday – January 29.

But late on Friday evening the family received a devastating email from the producers.

“They said unfortunately they now can't audition, as the show has too much talent,” said John.

"This would have a real devastating effect on a normal child, let alone a child with autism… The children are devastated.”

He has slammed the way his children have been treated as “atrocious”. The Citizen has approached the BGT team for comment and we are awaiting a reply.

We have been writing about The Stencil Pencils ever since they first formed and have always predicted the youngsters would shoot to national fame. Their best ever release came last summer, when they wrote and performed a song all about Milton Keynes.

Called MK City, Young and in Love. the track caught the ear of former music producer and current MK Dons chairman Pete Winkelman, who said he was “blown away” by the youngsters’ talent.

“I haven’t been so excited about a new single for ages,” he said. “It’s fresh, it’s current and so catchy that I can’t stop singing it. These kids are amazing! They look the part and they certainly have the talent to make it big time.”

You can listen to the single here.