Sofia Vergara and Mel B turned away from the stage, while Simon Cowell compared it to the 1990 movie that includes physical torture.

Horrifying America’s Got Talent act makes judges and audience look away: ‘Have you ever watched a film called Misery?’

Sofia Vergara and Mel B turned away from the stage, while Simon Cowell compared it to the 1990 movie that includes physical torture.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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June 9, 2026 10:00 p.m. ET

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Tracy and Brad on June 9 'America's Got Talent' episode. Credit:

Trae Patton/NBC

- The latest batch of *America's Got Talent* auditions included a husband-and-wife team who did stunts such as hammering a board to his face.

- The act also featured him swallowing a sword.

- Judges Mel B and Sofia Vergara even turned away from the stage at times, because they couldn't bear to watch the act.

Not even the judges could watch what was happening Tuesday on* **America's Got Talent**.*

A particularly uncomfortable audition sent not only Simon Cowell, Mel B, Howie Mandel, and Sofia Vergara squirming, but the audience, too.

And it hadn't been at all apparent that things would end up that way when the contestants, retiree Brad Byers, and his wife, Tracy, said they like dinner and movies. She proceeded to hammer a piece of plywood onto his face with a 5-inch spike.

The audience groaned, while Mel B and Vergara just turned around.

Once the board was attached, the contestant swung the board around by, yep, the spike in his nose. Mel B was out, and she hit her X, which is a vote to end an act immediately.

But they were just getting started.

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The spike came out, and Brad also took off his shirt. He then laid on a pile of broken glass, as his wife walked on his back and the back of his head.

Tracy gave her husband a sword, which he swallowed.

At this point, even Cowell had to look away.

'America's Got Talent' act shocks audience.

Trae Patton/NBC

When Tracy brought out a bigger sword, Sofia declared, "She hates him!"

He had seven swords in his mouth at once.

The *Modern Family* alum told her fellow judges, "This is the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life."

Tracy brought more accessories, prompting Cowell to say, "Oh, no!"

Then, the finale: Brad put a long hook in his nose and pulled it out his mouth. He put a heavy anchor on the hook and swung it around.

"Have you ever watched a film called *Misery*?" Cowell then asked.

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The 1990 horror movie, directed by the late Rob Reiner, is based on Stephen King's 1987 novel about an obsessed fan (Kathy Bates), who rescues her favorite author (James Caan), then tortures him in captivity to get him to write what she wants.

On *AGT*, the couple from Moscow, Idaho, who said they'd been together for 17 years, were thankfully, mercifully done.

Vergara called them "one of the weirdest, weirdest things I've ever watched on *AGT*, for sure."

But Cowell clarified that it also had been "one of our favorites."

Mandel said it had certainly been one of his favorites of the night, and he cast a "yes" vote. While Vergara and Cowell joined him, Mel B was the lone holdout.

"I was looking at the audience, and they were horrified," the former Spice Girl said, "so I'm gonna say no."

Still, they had enough support to guarantee them a return to the stage.

In case there had been any doubt, Brad confirmed backstage that the glass used had been real.

*America's Got Talent *airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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