'AGT' winners claim they never received $1M prize —and the reason is totally unexpected: 'We trusted...'
In addition to the global exposure, 'America's Got Talent' winners also win a grand prize of $1,000,000. However, winning the show doesn't always mean the winner becomes a millionaire. In one case, a winning team made serious claims about not getting the prize money. However, 'AGT' isn't the reason they didn't get it; rather, it's something far more complicated.
The winning team in discussion is V. Unbeatable, an acrobatic dance group from Mumbai who won 'AGT: The Champions' in 2020, per Talent Recap. The champions are now reportedly living in poor conditions. In a recent YouTube video, former members accuse their ex-manager, Omprakash Chauhan, of withholding their earnings. Despite global praise and success, many group members now live in overcrowded homes with minimal comforts. In the documentary, former V. Unbeatable members shared how their lives did not improve after winning the show.
Arjun Vatar said, "After winning America's Got Talent, we thought our lives would change. But nothing changed. Our lives haven't changed." He added, "Before, he [the manager] used to come from a poor family. Now he has gone up in the world. He lives in a two-bedroom flat. And we are where we are. We don't have anything." Vatar also claimed the manager had promised them homes for their families but never delivered. Another member, Anush Kumar, explained, "We trusted him blindly at first." But after a few years, they realized their manager was "not looking after us." Kumar said there was "a lot of money coming" from performances, but the manager didn't inform them.
The group's legal case alleges that former manager Omprakash Chauhan defrauded them of over $1 million for more than 300 performances. Notably, after V. Unbeatable's win on 'America’s Got Talent: The Champions,' the group’s momentum was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced them to cancel international shows and return to difficult living conditions in India. According to NPR, some dancers even had to sell vegetables on the roadside to survive. Group co-founder Omprakash Chauhan said, "I'm scared that all our hard work will go down the drain," admitting he cried because his nights were "so sleepless." Choreographer Swapnil Bhoir added, "What was supposed to be the best times of our lives became the toughest."
View this post on Instagram
To cope with anxiety during lockdown, some members turned to making short dance videos. "You may win or achieve something great, but that doesn't mean your life is set," Bhoir said in a September 2020 interview. "Sometimes you have to start from zero again, and we're prepared to do that," he said. After the lockdown eased, V. Unbeatable made a strong comeback. By early 2023, the group had expanded to 45 members and began performing internationally again, starting with Dubai's Global Village, an event featuring talent from over 90 countries, according to The Khaleej Times.
"Everything that we had worked towards was finally bearing fruit," said creative director Maahesh More, looking back on their 'AGT' win. He further said, "It gave us recognition and validated us in the eyes of a lot of detractors," per NBC. The group has remained active on social media, performing at local events and even celebrating India's Independence Day with dance. The Global Village website described their 2023 routines as "high-energy, sometimes jaw-dropping," noting that the performances "had everyone spellbound."