MEAWW.COM / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

Simon Cowell said no to this whip act on 'AGT' — then got dragged into a stunt he’ll never forget

Cowell didn’t believe in the act — but the audience did, and they made sure he was part of the grand finale

'AGT' has had its fair share of jaw-dropping moments; however, one that Simon Cowell may have wished to re-do is when he red-buzzed a contestant, John Andrew Lepiarz, famously known as Jack The Whipper. Ahead of his audition, Lepiarz, the two-time Guinness World Record holder (2016 and 2020), told backstage that, "Being on 'AGT' is a chance for me to reach more people than I've ever reached." Dressed to impress, the contestant wore a crisp plain white shirt and sharply fitted English style half coat with red pants, coming across as "elegant" in words of Sofia Vergara.

"Well, you know I try to accentuate the form a little bit," the contestant told the judges. Cowell also couldn't resist and said, "You are like the handsome guy in you know 'Beauty and the Beast'." When Vergara asked him, "What's your act?" The 33-year-old explained:" We're gonna do some whip cracking."He added, "We are gonna try and not let the nerves take advantage of us, so we're trying to have a good time." Intrigued, Vergara asked, "Jack, who taught you to do this?" Lepiarz promptly replied, "I grew up in a circus, my dad taught me."

Lepiarz performed an incredible whipping act, almost making it look like martial arts. As he stepped into action, he pulled out two whips and began talking to the audience while demonstrating great control. He shared that he has been playing the whips since he was just 7 years old. Then he showcased an impressive range of whip cracks: "front crack, side crack, over the head crack, and even the super-fast crack," he said, leading the audience in awe and cheer. What truly made the act interesting was when Lepiarz snapped the tip of a thin stick with his whip. Heidi Klum and Vergara gasped in disbelief.

However, Cowell wasn't having it. Amid the performance, Cowell red-buzzed the contestant, and instantly got booed by the audience. However, Lepiarz continued his act and said, "I was going to use Howie for this trick, but Howie's not here, so I'm gonna do it myself." But Terry Crews jumped in and said, "Use Simon, Use Simon." Even though Jack admitted that "Simon's too scary," audiences didn't let it slide and kept screaming, "Simon! Simon!" until he stood up and volunteered, when he got on stage, Jack used the same stick and asked Cowell to hold it between his knees while in a squatting position. Anticipating what was about to happen, Cowell confessed, "I shouldn't have done it." Then Jack precisely whipped the stick from between his legs, leaving Cowell with a deep sigh of relief.

When Cowell took back the seat, he exclaimed, "I'm gonna take away my 'X' actually." Klum also added, "Seeing Simon in that position, with a stick..I mean, you have to be precise; a lot of things can go wrong. You are amazing." Vergara went next, I loved it." Fans too didn't hold back, taking a dig at Cowell, one wrote on YouTube, "I love how immediately after the X, everyone started booing.. Simon jumped the gun and got instant karma." Another added, "I think Simon learned a valuable lesson that day." The third chimed in, "Sir, you are a gift to humanity. Taking the smug right off Simon's face is a great service." "I absolutely love how nobody agreed with Simon and then he changed his tune!" wrote the fourth.