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Sofía Vergara froze, Mel B cursed on live TV — ‘AGT’ sneak peek reveals clown act that terrified judges

This creepy clown trio is crashing the ‘AGT’ Season 20 stage — and judging by the panel’s reaction, you won’t want to miss it

Recently, a bunch of clowns took over the stage of 'America's Got Talent,' and they scared the judges! In the second episode of 'AGT' Season 20, which was released on June 3, 2025, a group called Phobias auditioned for the NBC talent competition, and during their performance, all three members of the group, including Davide Spada, Vanessa Specchia, and Peppe Salomon, were dressed as scary clowns. This group's act was a perfect combination of magic and clownery. Throughout their act, the esteemed judges Howie Mandel, Mel B, Simon Cowell, and Sofia Vergara seemed extremely terrified. At one point, Mel couldn't control her nerves, and she went on to say a curse word.

As soon as the act ended, Cowell quipped, "That was scary." According to NBC, Mandel said, "Are you kidding me? I'm 70. You don't do that. Why are you laughing?" to which Cowell responded, "I hate clowns so much, but that was brilliant. Really, I'm laughing because it scared me, and that was horrific but great at the same time." When Mandel was asked to share his thoughts on Phobias' magic act, he shared, "Oh my god! I can't even breathe. Go ahead, somebody else."

Soon after, Vergara gushed over the magic act and exclaimed, "I thought it was brilliant and, uh, scary. I mean, we couldn't take our eyes off you. Horrible." At last, Mel offered her feedback to Phobias by saying, "That was actually really frightening and awful at the same time, but really entertaining." At the end, Phobias received four yeses from the judging panel, and they advanced to the next round of the show. Before giving the fourth yes to Phobias, Cowell said, "I never thought I would be saying this to three clowns. Four yeses."

Once the episode dropped, several 'AGT' fans presented their views on Phobias' magic act on various social media platforms. One user wrote, "Quite demented, scary, and entertaining with a dash of magic all at the same time. Well done!" Another user went on to say, "Only on AGT can you laugh, gasp, and get nightmares all in the same 6 minutes. That clown was straight out of my childhood trauma." A user noted, "That was so entertaining. As scary as it was, I couldn't help but laugh and be amazed at the same time. God bless Simon (with his clown fear), but God bless Howie because of the scare at the end."

Followed by a fourth fan who penned, "The best part is the acting, on point and really good; the “magic itself” is already known and obvious if you’ve seen a few magic shows, but the way they act, the music, and everything make it so smooth and fun to watch that you forget about the magic tricks and just enjoy it." Another user commented, "Normally I don't like this type of act, as they really do creep me out, but this was something different. They all have great showmanship, and I liked that they focused more on the magic instead of the horror elements, like acts from previous seasons, which I really liked. Definitely would like them in the live shows."