On Saturday night, Father Ray Kelly took to the stage of London’s Palladium theatre and auditioned for the show Britain’s Got Talent with the R.E.M. classic “Everybody Hurts”. He came on The Ray D’Arcy Show this afternoon to tell Ray what the reaction has been like.

His performance “got Simon Cowell off his feet”, along with the other three judges. Not only that, the judge usually most reticent with compliments had high praise for Father Ray, deeming his audition “one of the best auditions he’s ever seen”. These kind words “floored” Father Ray, who acknowledged that Simon is not known for throwing compliments around.

“I’m in an exclusive category at the moment!”

It’s not his first time in the spotlight, though. In 2014, a video of Father Ray singing at the wedding of Chris and Leah Keane went viral. To date, it’s been viewed over 60 million times. He had surprised the couple with a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. The fuss and publicity feel a little familiar to Father Ray.

“This is like Hallelujah being revisited all over again, isn’t it?”

He told Ray that he had watched the show for years and always wondered what it would be like to try out. It turns out watching the finished product was more stressful than facing the judges.

“It kind of blew me away. I was actually more nervous watching it on Saturday night on the TV than I was actually singing the song.”

Ray asked if nerves caused his hand to shake during his performance. Not quite.

“It’s because I had the mic in my right hand and I’m a left-hander…I’ve more strength in my left hand”.

The wait for the audience to react felt longer than it was to Father Ray.

“When I’d finished the song, like, there was just silence. And I said, ‘Oh my God, I think I’ll walk off now’. But it was only seconds – but it seemed like a lot longer – until Simon got up and started clapping.”

Father Ray appeared on the Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield fronted show, This Morning today. He told Ray that he got the call asking him to appear on the show right before he went out to the altar to perform a Holy Communion service. Did he need to get permission from the Bishop to appear on the show?

“Not really. But I did say it to him. Yeah, I did say it to him a while back. Because he might have to fill in for me!“

Listen back to the whole interview on The Ray D’Arcy Show here.