Simon Cowell Collapses After Being Hypnotized By A Dog On ‘Britain’s Got Talent’

During a recent taping of Britain’s Got Talent, judge Simon Cowell collapsed in his seat after — and I swear I’m not making this up — being hypnotized by a dog.

Unfortunately, there’s no video of the alleged hypnosis — the episode won’t air for quite some time, and Simon’s collapse happened after the cameras had stopped rolling anyway, according to the Huffington Post UK.

Simon and the rest of the Britain’s Got Talent gang were at the Lowry Theater in Manchester for a round of auditions Friday when the hypno-dog act took the stage. A woman came on stage with her dog, a German Spitz, and claimed that Princess could hypnotize people.

The notoriously cantankerous Simon Cowell wasn’t buying it, of course, and he took to the stage to subject himself to the “hypnosis.” Nothing happened. Wouldn’t be the first time, and it won’t be the last time, that an act on Britain’s Got Talent, or any of its worldwide franchises such as America’s Got Talent, failed to live up to expectations. Presumably the three other judges hit their X’s and Simon went back to his seat to hit his.

Things started to get weird once Simon got back to his seat, according to the Mirror. After he sat down, Cowell told his co-judges — Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams — that he didn’t feel right. Then he collapsed and slumped over on the table.

Princess’ owner was called back on stage, the dog was brought out, and she woke Simon up. An unnamed source working on the show described the scene, via The Mirror, rather succinctly.

“It was the freakiest moment we’ve ever had.”

It appears, as of this post, that Simon suffered no ill effects from his dog “hypnosis” and collapse.

Hypnosis — at least, hypnosis of the stage variety — “works” by way of the performer being skilled in the art of suggestion, according to Learn Stage Hypnosis. The hypnotist also needs people who don’t mind hamming it up and being the center of attention — people like, for example, Simon Cowell.

“All of this is sleight-of-hand, and as such, a legitimate part of any show business act.”

Still, knowing the methods stage hypnotists use doesn’t take away from the fact that they put on a good show, any more than knowing how Penn & Teller do their tricks (and they’ve written books about it) takes away from their “magic.” Simon Cowell may have just been a stooge manipulated by a clever performer using a dog as a prop, but it still makes for interesting TV.

As of this post, it is unclear when the Britain’s Got Talent episode featuring Simon Cowell hypnotized by a dog will air.

[Image courtesy of: The Mirror]