The audition, April 2024
ITV News Meridian reported the performance on 22 April 2024. Ravi, then 8 and from Brighton, sang A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman. He did not sing it alone: he was joined by Ravi's Dream Team, a choir made up of family, friends, teachers, medical staff and other children from the brain tumour community.
Alesha Dixon pressed the Golden Buzzer. Amanda Holden was reduced to tears. The buzzer sends an act straight past the judges' deliberations and into the live rounds, and it can be used only once by each judge in a series. Dixon explained her reasoning on air: 'The golden buzzer is such a personal thing. And I always say I can only press it when it feels right and you're such a remarkable young man.'
What he said on stage
Ravi's own account of why he was there was brief and direct. 'I've watched Britain's Got Talent all my life and always wanted to audition for it,' he told the judges. 'Two years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumour and I'm here to show no matter what life throws you can still achieve your dreams.'
The diagnosis came at six. The operation ran to ten hours and the tumour could not be fully removed. ITV reported that he relearned walking and eating afterwards and continues to manage the effects daily. Those are the medical facts his family has put on the public record, and this page carries no others.
The charity single, two years earlier
The 2024 audition was not his first public appearance. ITV News Meridian had covered him in November 2022, when he released a charity single after life-saving brain surgery. The research record for this page notes that the cover featured Paloma Faith, Coldplay and Bastille.
By the time of the Britain's Got Talent audition, ITV reported that he had raised more than 100,000 pounds for brain tumour charities. That figure, not the television appearance, is the most substantial documented fact about him.
What the Golden Buzzer actually does
Britain's Got Talent auditions thousands of acts a series and most are decided by four judges' votes. The Golden Buzzer is the exception: each judge, and the hosts, may use it once to send a single act directly through, bypassing the usual cut. It is the show's loudest editorial statement, and it is spent deliberately.
There is a discrepancy in the coverage worth flagging. The ITV News headline of 22 April 2024 says the buzzer sent him straight through to the Britain's Got Talent final; the body of the same report says it sent the performance straight to the semi-finals. This page records both readings and does not choose between them.
What is documented and what is not
Documented by ITV News Meridian: his age of 8, his home city of Brighton, the diagnosis at six of a benign brain stem tumour, the ten-hour operation, the incomplete removal, the relearning of walking and eating, the song, the choir, Alesha Dixon's Golden Buzzer, Amanda Holden's reaction, the 2022 charity single and the sum raised for brain tumour charities.
Not documented here: his date of birth, his school, his family's names, his current medical condition, how far he went in the 2024 series, and anything about him since. This page reports only the medical facts his family and ITV have published, and adds nothing to them.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Received Alesha Dixon's Golden Buzzer on Britain's Got Talent, reported 22 April 2024 (ITV News Meridian)
- Aged 8, from Brighton; diagnosed at six with a benign brain stem tumour and operated on for ten hours
- Sang A Million Dreams with the choir Ravi's Dream Team
- ITV reported he had raised more than 100,000 pounds for brain tumour charities
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- ITV's headline says the buzzer sent him to the final; the same article's text says the semi-finals
- His result in the 2024 series is not recorded in these sources
- No date of birth, school or current medical update appears in the sources used here
Questions people ask about Ravi Adelekan
How old is Ravi Adelekan?
ITV reported he was 8 at his April 2024 Britain's Got Talent audition, which places his birth year around 2016. No date of birth appears in these sources.
What happened to Ravi Adelekan?
He was diagnosed at six with a benign brain stem tumour. Surgeons operated for ten hours and could not remove all of it, and he had to relearn walking and feeding himself.
Who gave Ravi Adelekan the Golden Buzzer?
Alesha Dixon, at his April 2024 audition. Amanda Holden was reduced to tears by the performance.
What did Ravi Adelekan sing?
A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman, with a choir called Ravi's Dream Team made up of family, friends, teachers, medical staff and other children from the brain tumour community.
How much money has Ravi Adelekan raised?
ITV reported in April 2024 that he had raised more than 100,000 pounds for brain tumour charities.
Did Ravi Adelekan win Britain's Got Talent?
The sources used here do not record how far he went after the Golden Buzzer, and this page does not guess. ITV's headline and its own article text differ on whether the buzzer sent him to the final or the semi-finals.
Is Ravi Adelekan on Wikipedia?
No standalone English Wikipedia article for him is recorded here.
What is Ravi Adelekan's current health?
ITV reported in 2024 that he continues to manage the effects of the tumour and surgery daily. No source used here gives any update beyond that, and this page makes no medical claims of its own.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Ravi’s story?
Which judge pressed the Golden Buzzer for Ravi Adelekan?
What did he sing at his 2024 audition?
How much had he raised for brain tumour charities by 2024?
Sources
- Brighton boy with big dreams goes straight through to Britain's Got Talent final — ITV News Meridian, 2024-04-22
- Brighton boy releases charity single after undergoing life saving brain surgery — ITV News Meridian, 2022-11-17
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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