Britain's Got Talent
2007 series
In, 2007, Sampson auditioned during the first round of Britain's Got Talent after a dance teacher told him there was audition in the area that was right up his alley. He only discovered it was for Britain's Got Talent when he arrived. In his audition, he danced to Drop (Timbaland feat. Magoo & Fatman Scoop), but despite Simon Cowell's enthusiasm, he was unable to convince the other two judges, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan, to let Sampson proceed to the live shows. This experience made Sampson determined to enter the 2008 auditions and prove Holden and Morgan wrong. In the intervening time he continued dancing on the streets of Warrington to improve his technique, and to raise money for his family.
2008 series
Sampson got through the Britain's Got Talent auditions in 2008 by dancing to "Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)". He then came top in the audience's vote in his semi-final with his arrangement of Mint Royale's big beat remix of "Singin' in the Rain", complete with an artificial rain machine onstage, a formula that had previously been produced in a television advertisement for the Volkswagen Golf GTI. He subsequently won the audience's vote in the final, beating dancers Cheeky Monkeys (second place) and Andrew Johnston (third place). He broke into tears when his win was announced. Sampson was due to perform a different routine for the final, to a track by the Bee Gees, which he described as involving "a lot of movement without me actually doing anything". An hour before the final started he changed his mind and, after consulting Simon Cowell, opted to perform his winning act from the semi-final again.
The Mint Royale version of "Singin' In The Rain" went to number 1 in the UK on download sales alone in the week following Sampson's performance and Simon Cowell's label SyCo was bombarded with requests from fans to make a video for the song. It is the first time SyCo has signed up a non-singing act solely to make a video.
In an interview the day after the final, Sampson told of his return to normality the Monday after the event. He also told of his friendship with younger finalists, Andrew Johnston and Faryl Smith, saying that they weren't jealous of him winning. Sampson has stated several times that he will use his money to pay off his mother's mortgage despite her refusal, and possibly take his friends who also busk with him to LA as "it's always been their dream". He also stated that he might buy a Volkswagen Camper for his Mum to drive around in until he is old enough to do so himself.