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Simon Cowell storms off after ‘AGT’ prank pushes him too far — but one judge loved every minute of it

When actor David Alan Grier dropped by on the sets of the show to irk the judges with a prank, Simon Cowell couldn’t hide his frustration

‘AGT’ fans know that judge Simon Cowell’s threshold for tolerating nonsense is non-existent! When actor David Alan Grier dropped by on the sets of the show to irk the judges with a prank, Cowell couldn’t hide his frustration. For a filler segment in the finale week of ‘AGT’ season 19, Grier joined forces with judge Howie Mandel to pull a prank on the other three judges. While Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara found a way to embrace the awkwardness, Cowell certainly couldn’t. The prank involved the actor walking into the set of the show and pitching to record some promotional content with the judges.

Mandel announced that Grier would love to try directing and will be filming some promos. In a secret camera, he confessed that the goal is to “annoy the hell out of these judges,” but put the entire blame on Mandel. The shoot began with the judges recording messages for fans in different cities with a teleprompter and a lot of chaos. It was all well and good until Grier brought in some “props” for the judges to wear. “I can’t do this,” Cowell announced after cracking up while reading a line. When it came to recording a message to the Texas fans, Gier brought out giant cowboy hats, which Cowell instantly refused to wear.

The props kept getting weirder, and Cowell was evidently losing his patience. “I’m actually going to fall on that cactus on purpose in the moment,” the judge said at one point. On the contrary, Klum and Vergara seemed to enjoy the chaos, props, and the over-the-top dramatic lines. Cowell was visibly frustrated when prop fish were brought out while recording a message for Alaska, and a giant fan was turned on for the “windy city” of Chicago. “I can’t do this,” he said and left his seat, and Vergara followed. But Klum stayed seated and put her modeling talent to good use as the winds blew her hair.

‘AGT’ is currently on its 20th season, but the performances so far have been mediocre. A few exceptional acts like the Light Wire certainly blew away the judges and the audience alike and earned the coveted Golden Buzzer. This season, Spice Girls alum Mel B came as a replacement for Klum, who was present at the ‘AGT’ judges’ panel for a long time. Much to the fans’ surprise, the former turned out to be the harsher judge while Cowell mellowed down. As reported by Collider, Cowell deemed Mel B as “Miss Kill the Mood.”

Even ‘AGT’ fans took to social media to express outrage over Mel B’s strage comeback on the show. “I am so sick of her misery and negativity already. It's ruining the whole vibe for me,” one Reddit user wrote. “Suddenly I want heidi back and mel b GONE #agt,” an X user wrote. “Why is Mel B so miserable all the time? Kills the vibe of the show,” a third social media user complained. “Dude get Mel B off the show if she can’t sit through a 90 second act without getting bored,” another fan pointed out.