When mother and daughter Dawn and Abby walked onto the Britain’s Got Talent stage in 2012, they had one thing in common: a desire to perform together.

The duo, known as Like Mother, Like Daughter, chose Plan B’s hit song “She Said” for their audition.

But their performance didn’t go exactly as they hoped.

The audition quickly became a divided moment for the judging panel, with David Walliams and Alesha Dixon pressing their buzzers while Simon Cowell had a different perspective on the pair.

👩‍👧 A Mother and Daughter Take the BGT Stage

Dawn and Abby came from Strood, Kent, and auditioned together as the duo Like Mother, Like Daughter.

Dawn had considerable experience performing before the audition, while Abby was much less experienced as a performer. According to the BGT Wiki, Abby was the one who suggested that they audition together and create something different as a mother-daughter act.

That family connection became an important part of their introduction.

Rather than entering the competition separately, they wanted to share the stage.

🎶 Why They Chose “She Said”

For their audition, the pair chose “She Said” by Plan B.

The song was already a recognizable British hit, giving the duo a familiar piece to reinterpret in their own style.

The official BGT video identifies the performance as Dawn and Abby singing “She Said” and asks whether they could impress judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams.

But once the performance began, the judges quickly formed different opinions.

😮 The Buzzers Start

The audition became particularly memorable when David Walliams and Alesha Dixon hit their buzzers.

Contemporary coverage described the act as one that left the judging panel divided, with the two judges expressing their lack of enthusiasm for the performance.

The buzzers immediately changed the atmosphere of the audition.

Instead of simply waiting for the judges’ comments after the song, Dawn and Abby had to continue knowing that two members of the panel had already signaled that they weren’t convinced.

👀 Simon Cowell Saw Something Different

Simon Cowell’s reaction added another layer to the audition.

According to the BGT Wiki’s account of the performance, Simon believed Abby was stronger than Dawn and asked to hear Abby perform on her own.

That request shifted the focus of the audition from the mother-daughter duo to Abby’s individual ability.

It created an unusual moment because the act had originally been built around the idea of performing together.

Now the judges were examining the daughter separately.

🎤 Abby Gets a Solo Moment

After Simon’s request, Abby performed a rap.

Dawn also continued to sing from backstage, creating another unusual moment in the audition.

The judges continued discussing whether the mother-daughter partnership was the right fit.

Alesha Dixon questioned whether the performance was more connected to Dawn’s ambition than Abby’s, adding another perspective to the debate.

❌ The Duo Didn’t Advance

Despite the different opinions among the judges, Like Mother, Like Daughter did not progress beyond the audition stage.

The act therefore became one of the more unusual BGT 2012 auditions—not because it produced a traditional success story, but because the judges had distinctly different reactions to the mother-daughter pairing.

Their audition nevertheless remains available through the official BGT YouTube channel, where the video has accumulated millions of views over the years.

❤️ The Story Behind the Performance

What makes the audition interesting today is the reason Dawn and Abby appeared together in the first place.

They wanted to create something as a mother and daughter rather than simply audition individually.

That gave the performance a personal dimension even though the judges ultimately weren’t convinced by the act.

The audition also demonstrated how unpredictable talent-show competitions can be.

A performer may enter with one concept, only for the judges to focus on a completely different element.

Final Thoughts

Dawn and Abby’s Britain’s Got Talent audition didn’t end with a successful trip to the next round.

Instead, it became a fascinating example of a divided judging panel.

They chose Plan B’s “She Said,” stepped onto the stage as a mother-daughter duo and hoped to make an impression.

David Walliams and Alesha Dixon weren’t convinced and hit their buzzers.

Simon Cowell, however, focused particularly on Abby and asked to hear more from her individually.

The result was an unexpected audition that remains part of the BGT archive—and a reminder that sometimes the most memorable talent-show moments aren’t necessarily the ones that end with a yes.