Simon Cowell Set on Fire During Scary ‘Got Talent’ Stunt

Simon Cowell‘s life was reportedly in danger during a recent Britain’s Got Talent episode filming. A mysterious mute magician performed a dangerous trick, which involved pouring lighter fluid on Cowell. The episode will air later on ITV later this year.

The magician required Cowell to go onstage, which is usually a sign that things are going to get weird soon. He asked Cowell to put a hood on his head and sit in a chair, reports The Mirror. The magician then poured lighter fluid all over the hood, locked his head in a box, and opened the box so the audience could see the magician dropping a flame into the box. Cowell’s head then went up in flames.

“The audience screamed, judges were out of their seats screaming, everyone was totally stunned,” an eyewitness at the London auditions told The Mirror. “The flames were put out and Simon got up looking a bit shell-shocked while the rest of the judges breathed a sigh of relief as he returned to the panel.”

Afterward, Cowell told his fellow judges Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, and Bruno Tonioli that he could feel a liquid being poured on his head but he had no idea it was lighter fluid. “Simon, he set your entire head on fire,” Dixon said. “It was very scary, you are a very brave man to do that. It made me realize how much we care about you, I was ready to come up there and rescue you.”

The act was “massively entertaining to watch” but very scary to see, Holden said. The scene reminded Tonioli of a scene from Saw. “I was captivated, I’ve never seen anything like that,” the Dancing With the Stars judge said.

It’s unclear if the magician moved on to the next stage. Britain’s Got Talent usually airs between April and June on ITV. Tonioli, who recently left Strictly Come Dancing so he could focus on Dancing With the Stars in the fall, joined to replace outgoing judge David Williams.

Tonioli’s first BGT season has reportedly been rough. Sources told The Sun that the show descended into “chaos” after he accidentally hit his Golden Buzzer a second time to send an act to the live shows, even though judges can only do that once. Tonioli reportedly said he never watched the show before.

“It was madness. The buzzer worked but there was no glitter in the cannon above the stage as it had already been used up,” a source told The Sun. “A producer raced over to try to tell Bruno he couldn’t do that. Then there were discussions with the top execs and Simon, who had his head in his hands.”

Meanwhile, Cowell now stars in America’s Got Talent: All-Stars, which was filmed last fall. The series includes contestants from Got Talent shows all over the world. During Monday’s episode, BGT Season 15 finalist Tom Ball got a group Golden Buzzer from the judges. New episodes air Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.