Simon Cowell was taken aback by an onstage fight on 'AGT' — until he realized who they were
From heart-pounding stunts to gravity-defying acts, 'America's Got Talent' has to be the safest haven for artists who dare to be different. While mostly these participants leave no stone unturned to impress judges, there was an act that left Simon Cowell scared. Surprisingly, it wasn't due to a dangerous act but an onstage altercation between participants. The clash quickly turned into a heated confrontation, making security intervene, but this was not the end, as what seemed like an out-of-control audition turned out to be an elaborate prank.
Back in June 2022, the 'America’s Got Talent' audition took a shocking turn when two women performed a confusing act that left both the audience and judges baffled, as per The Sun US. The duo can be seen dressed in full face paint and rag doll outfits and aimlessly wandering around a living room set, with Britney Spears' 'Toxic' playing in the background. The weird team can be seen lying in a lay on a pink couch, fighting over a lollipop, and dancing poorly. The unimpressed crowd booed loudly, and all four judges quickly hit their buzzers, earning the act four X's. Afterward, Judge Howie Mandel asked, "How do you feel it went?"
That’s when the real drama began. The women started calmly criticizing each other for the performance, but the situation quickly moved ahead as one shoved the other, leading to a full-blown fight. The women knocked each other into furniture, fell over set pieces, shoved one another to the ground, and even broke items over each other's heads. Security was forced to intervene and break up the altercation while Cowell sat in stunned silence, visibly shaken by the scene. After security tried to intervene during a chaotic onstage fight, the two women freed themselves and rushed down to the judges' panel, where they dramatically smashed heads right in front of the stunned judges.
It was then that Cowell realized these weren't ordinary contestants; they were WWE superstars, The Bella Twins, Nikki and Brie Bella. The surprise was all part of a staged prank on the judges. Reacting to the twist, Cowell told them, "You are very naughty, you two." Cowell also grabbed major headlines for pulling a risky prank on fellow AGT judge Sofia Vergara in June 2022. Reportedly, Cowell got a big scare when notorious 'comedy danger act' Ryan Stock and Amberlynn Walker returned to the AGT stage, as per Decider.
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Known for their mishap in a previous season, the duo came back for redemption and brought Cowell and Vergara into the chaos, according to Yahoo Entertainment. The segment followed a comment from Vergara, who shared her love for edge-of-your-seat moments, saying, "When something horrific is going to happen, that's what I love about this show." Stock and Walker invited Cowell and Vergara to participate in a high-risk stunt involving an arrow. Initially, Cowell refused, saying, "I'm not ‘chicken.' I just value my life. And with respect, you are the last two I want doing anything with me."
But when he learned Vergara would be firing the arrow, he reconsidered and agreed to take part in the act. After blindfolding Vergara and instructing her to shoot a crossbow at a balloon above Cowell's head, the audience was led to believe something went terribly wrong. As the setup unfolded, Cowell was secretly staged with a fake arrow in his chest and collapsed on the floor, appearing to have been shot before Vergara had even touched the weapon. As host Terry Crews rushed over, yelling, "We need a medic!", the audience screamed in shock. Before panic could escalate further, Cowell ended the act with a laugh, calling out, saying, "I gotcha!" Vergara, visibly shocked, issued a playful warning, saying, "You know I'm Colombian, and you know we take revenge."
