Simon Cowell pledges to fund expensive back operation for member of Britain's Got Talent finalists

It's not often that we get the chance to say this about TV's Mr Nasty but good on Simon Cowell.

The Britain's Got Talent judge has vowed to pay for an £80,000 (NZ$143,901) back operation for Julia Carlile, the 15-year-old dancer and member of BGT finalists MerseyGirls.

Carlile suffers from scoliosis, a condition that causes the spine to twist or curve, and will need to travel to America for the anterior scoliosis correction surgery.

Without the operation, Carlile, who was diagnosed with the condition when she was six, may never be able to dance again.

Carlile had planned to use some of the £250,000 (NZ$449,630) prize money for the operation - if MerseyGirls were triumphant in Saturday night's final. But Cowell had other ideas.

"There's no way I would ever have her [Julia] on this show and say, 'it's all just about winning the £250,000', Cowell told The Sun.

"I couldn't do that. You would do the same thing.

"You get letters, you get calls. You have to draw the line at a certain point. But I think if someone comes on in this situation, to do nothing would be, well, I couldn't look at myself in the mirror.

"You create a connection. And I think with us, in this particular case, I think there is something we can do.

"There's no way I would ever say: 'Right, you came second, so it's all over'."

MerseyGirls are a five-person dance group from the Wirral who were Alesha Dixon's Golden Buzzer choice On Thursday night, MerseyGirls (originally called Just Us) became the first dance act through to the final.

They are rated a general 20/1 to win the competition.