Category: Hypnosis on Television and radio

1. Was Simon Cowell really hypnotised by a dog on Britain's Got Talent?

   Posted on 9:47am Sunday 26th Apr 2015

   Ant and Dec slumped to the floor of the Britain's Got Talent Stage. Ant carefully reaching out to break his fall, almost as if he was just playing along with the dog that was hypnotising him. Then Simon Cowell came up on stage and looked deep into hypnodog's eyes. He dismissed it as not working...but going back to his seat, he started yawning and then slumped on the desk.

   What on earth was going on? Was Simon Cowell really hypnotised by a dog in front of our eyes?

   Sadly, all the evidence points to a big NO!  Don't get me wrong, as a Clinical Hypnotherapist I would love to be able to tell you that your dog could hypnotise you. I love dogs and the companionship and unconditional love that they provide is something wonderful...but they can't take control of your mind.

   Hot on the heels of the ITV Hypnosis Gameshow "You're Back in the Room" ...This episode of Britain's got talent or #BGT as the twitter fans, who were callling out "Fake!" during the shows airing, call it had been much trailed. In fact when the incident happened back in February during auditions at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester I spoke to Jonathan Ross on BBC Radio 2 all about it and gave my point of view, as well as Jonathan telling us his. You can listen to the interview below...

   If you listen to the end of the interview then we both agree that this is a wonderful publicity stunt. Pretending to be hypnotised by a dog meant that the show had acres of column inches in the papers and online as well as interviews such as the one I did on Radio 2.

   What happened on the day of the audition though?

   When you are able to see what people are saying on twitter about the show you can learn a lot. One twitter user who was there on the day was able to explain a little bit more about what happened that we didn't see. On the show as it aired on ITV there were lots of cheers and other audience noises that showed us quite how much the show was being enjoyed. However, according to this lady on twitter the reality was a little different.

   "Pile of sh*t! we saw this dog live, biggest set up I've seen. Nobody clapped in fact we booed and were told to stop chanting her off"

   In fact she also explained that it took over 40 minutes to film the segment. It is almost as if there was a story arc that had to be filmed and that everyone was just playing along...apart from the audience it seems! 

   What is hypnosis?

   Hypnosis is a really natural state, just like the point between falling asleep or waking up. 

   

   We all drift in and out on our own many times a day. It's just like daydreaming. As a clinical hypnotherapist I can use that to help you to make changes that you want in your life. There is no mind control and no one needs to be slumped on the floor! You can read more here: What is Hypnotherapy

   It will be interesting to see how far the act goes in the show. I wonder if they will appear again or be quietly dropped from the finals now that the maximum amount of publicity has been created? Stage hypnosis isn't really ideal for a live show and wouldn't work on the Royal Variety Show as it would take too long to set up...it may well be the last we see of Princess the Hypnodog. She can at least go out and enjoy a walk in the park now, although she may be much more popular with the other dogs than before !

   So ...Did Simon Cowell really get Hypnothised by a dog?

   "It's a No from Me"

2. Why Hypnotherapy to quit smoking failed for Simon Cowell

   Posted on 9:31am Friday 17th Apr 2015

   X-factor and Britain's Got Talent boss Simon Cowell is a big smoker. He has been pictured many times smoking cigarettes and the habit has been with him for a long time. Recently there have been reports that he has tried hypnosis to quit smoking but it hasn't worked.

   Why would that be...and what does it tell us about quitting smoking using hypnotherapy?

   Speaking to The Sun Newspaper he said..

   ..he had another cigarette in his mouth within moments of leaving the session.
   
   "I tried once to give up smoking, and the first thing I did when I walked out of the hypnotist's was light up a cigarette. I actually wanted one more," he said.

   Clearly the failing was that of the hypnotherapist and not his. Some people think that hypnosis can make you do things that you do not want to do.

   In fact Simon Cowell himself has helped to perpetuate this myth by being "hypnotised by a dog" on Britain's Got Talent. Hypnodog is a stage hypnotist act who travel student unions performing and entertaining people. When Simon encountered the dog in Manchester, he drifted off into a deep trance...apparently.

   Of course, if a dog could hypnotise him them clearly he would have stopped smoking straight away with a professional hypnotherapist helping him wouldn't he?

   Well, firstly ...can a dog hypnotise a person? I don't think so.  Here's what I told Jonathan Ross on BBC Radio 2 in an interview all about the incident...

   So, if you listened to the interview above you will know that Simon Cowell was just playing along and not really hypnotised by a dog! IN fact the audience were asked not to boo the act on the day in Manchester as they could see that Simon was playing along...you don't see that on TV though !

   Why didn't quit smoking hypnosis work for Simon Cowell?

   The big question though is why didn't the hypnotherapy session work when he went to quit smoking? It's the fault of the hypnotherapist that he went to see. The truth about quit smoking hypnosis is that you cannot make anyone do something that they do not want to do. He has made it pretty clear that he really enjoys smoking so he doesn't sound committed to the idea of giving up. Hypnotherapy to help you quit smoking is very effective indeed. I know this because it worked so well for me that I now help others to kick the habit for good. 

   But...it can only help you if you really want it to. If you have decided that you want to quit and are finding it difficult with will power alone or finding other aids like gum and patches are not helping then it can be great. If you don't really want to stop then it simply isn't for you. 

   If anyone calls and asks me questions about how it works then I always ask them... "How much do you really want to quit smoking?"

   If they are not sure then I would suggest that it isn't for them.

   Make sense?  If you want to read more about how it works and how it can help you when you make that big decision to really stop then just click here:

    Quit Smoking via Skype or at my practice