Magician’s jab at Mel B leaves ‘America's Got Talent’ audience gasping — Heidi Klum calls it 'hurtful'
'America's Got Talent: Fantasy League' is one of the iterations of 'AGT' that premiered in 2024, with the spinoff show featuring past winners, contestants, finalists, and fan favorites. The show had an interesting concept where each judge had a team of 10 contestants as they went head-to-head against each other as mentors, a concept similar to 'The Voice.' However, since the contestants are familiar with the judges, they may get too frank sometimes and cross the line. Something similar happened with Anna DeGuzman, a cardistry artist, who made her mark on the show all the way back in 'AGT' season 18, as reported by Parade.
Anna, throughout her involvement in season 18, has performed cardistry routines with the help of the judges. Her performance is very much collaborative, as she calls the judges on stage and asks them to pick a card according to the trick. In Anna's final act for the finale, she even made the audience a part of her performance. Despite making it to the finals, Anna didn't win the show but finished in second place. However, despite not winning the show, Anna went on to host two solo magic shows by the name of 'Queen of Cards' at the Mastercard Midnight Theatre in New York, as reported by North Jersey.
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Similarly, for 'Fantasy League,' belonging to Howie Mandell's team, Anna called Mel B. and Mandell on stage as she performed a series of tricks with the judges. However, the magician might have gotten a bit too cocky this time around with her skills, as she continuously insulted Mel. Even though it might have been in a playful manner with Mel not even giving it much heed, the audience and the judges were quite taken aback by it. It began with a simple trick as Anna folded a one-dollar bill and a 100-dollar bill as she proceeded to give it to Mel. She then told the 'AGT' judge to keep it in her palm and close it with whichever bill Anna picks out; Mel gets to keep it. As Anna asked, "Which one do you think you got?" Mel hilariously replied, 20.
Simon Cowell from the judges' table sighed and buried his face in his palms as Anna replied, "I don't think that was one of the options." As everyone laughed, Anna quipped, perhaps drawing the line a bit too thin this time around. "It's okay, you're pretty." Anna took this up a notch when she asked Mel for the first digit on her bill's serial number; as Mel gave the answer, Anna said, "Wow, she can read." It was clear that Anna had crossed a line as the entire audience gasped and looked with widened eyes.
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As the act ended, Anna stated, "I always pick the best assistants." Cowell quipped, "Actually, I'm not too sure about that," as Anna said something distasteful yet again: "I should've picked Heidi." As the audience gasped, Mandell gave Anna a subtle expression to shush. While all the judges loved Anna's performance, Heidi Klum wasn't quite pleased, as she said, "It was a lot of talking. What you said to Mel, that kind of hurt me a little bit. I really like you, and that did not make me like you so much." Anna apologized as she said, "I thought we were both joking." Mel, totally unaware of the issue, defended Anna as Cowell chimed in with a voice of reason. "To be fair, I think Anna was kidding around."