'America's Got Talent' Stuntman Sparked Engagement Rumors With 'Sherlock' Star Just Before Accident
Just days before his near-death accident while filming America's Got Talent: Extreme, daredevil Jonathan Goodwin appeared to confirm he and actress Amanda Abbington are engaged. On Oct. 1, Goodwin shared a photo of the couple together and included an engagement ring emoji in his Instagram bio. Goodwin nearly died during a stunt accident on Thursday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
"That was possibly the longest game of hide and seek ever," Goodwin captioned the picture of the two. He included the hashtag "Found Ya" and a hear emoji. "I love you," Abbington quickly added in the comments section. Abbington didn't post anything about an engagement on her own Instagram page, but she did publish a photo of the two on Oct. 10. "When in Vienna, you hang out at the graveyards. What of it," she wrote.
Goodwin almost died when a stunt went horribly wrong during production on AGT: Extreme. He was suspended upside down 70 feet in the air while wearing a straightjacket. To make the escape even more challenging, he had two cars swinging upside down on either side of him, and he had to get out of the jacket before they collided. Unfortunately, something went wrong and the cars collided while he was still between them. When he finally fell, he missed the mattress on the ground and hit his head. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery and production on the show was halted.
"He suffered severe injuries to his legs and several lacerations, and was airlifted to Grady Hospital," a spokesperson for the Henry County, Georgia Sheriff's Department told The Sun. "He was transported in serious condition but is currently alive, alert and well. There are no plans for a criminal investigation at this time and any further investigations would be done by AGT." TMZ published shocking video of the accident, showing the two cars busting into flames after they collided.
Abbington, 47, is best known for playing Mary Watson on Sherlock. She was married to Martin Freeman, who played John Watson on Sherlock, from 2000 to 2016. The two also starred in The Good Night and The Robinsons together and are parents to two children. Abbington now stars in the Sky crime drama Wolfe, featuring Babou Ceesay.
Goodwin, 41, is a Welsh escape artist who has appeared on dozens of game shows and reality series in the U.K. and U.S. In 2019, he performed a "buried alive" stunt on Britain's Got Talent. He was also a semifinalist on America's Got Talent last year. He also had his own U.K. series in 2012, The Incredible Mr. Goodwin, and starred on Discovery's One Way Out.