'Something Went Terribly Wrong' on 'Extreme' Version of AGT

Daredevil Jonathan Goodwin severely injured after being smashed between 2 swinging cars
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 16, 2021 7:30 AM CDT
'Something Went Terribly Wrong' on 'Extreme' Version of AGT
In this Aug. 28, 2018, file photo, Simon Cowell arrives at an "America's Got Talent" red-carpet event at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

Maybe "extreme" versions of talent show competitions aren't a great idea. A stunt for America's Got Talent: Extreme, an NBC spinoff of the popular original, went awry on Thursday at Georgia's Atlanta Motor Speedway, and "it was so bad people on the set thought [the stuntman] was dead," reports TMZ. Welsh daredevil Jonathan Goodwin isn't dead, but he's said to be severely injured after he was reportedly crushed midair between two cars, per Yahoo Entertainment.

Production sources tell TMZ that Goodwin's act involved him bound in a straitjacket and hanging by his feet 70 feet high, trying to escape his predicament as two cars swung perilously around him, an air mattress below to catch him once he successfully made his way out of his bondage. Instead, "something went terribly wrong," per the outlet, and the cars smacked into each other and burst into flames, with Goodwin between them. Goodwin plummeted to the ground and hit his head, and sources say he was initially unresponsive.

TMZ reports Goodwin was airlifted to a hospital trauma unit and rushed into surgery, his condition unknown. An AGT spokeswoman didn't offer many new details, though she tells Deadline that Goodwin actually was responsive at some point before he was whisked to the hospital and that he's "continuing to receive medical care." "Our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family as we await further updates on his condition," she adds. Goodwin performed a similarly risky stunt on the regular AGT show in 2020 and was a finalist on Britain's Got Talent in 2019, per People.

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Taping on the spinoff—said to feature "the most outrageous, unique, and jaw-dropping acts of enormous scale and magnitude that simply cannot be confined to a theater stage," per a previous NBC statement—has reportedly been halted. The show includes regular AGT judge Simon Cowell, as well as its host, Terry Crews; retired WWE wrestler Nikki Bella and motor sports competitor Travis Pastrana join the team as judges. Cal/OSHA is also said to be looking into the incident. (More America's Got Talent stories.)

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