Does America’s Got Talent creator and executive producer Simon Cowell want to change the judges’ panel before the upcoming season of his hit NBC competition series?
That’s what two insiders told Page Six in a report published on January 19.
“The word on the street is they are replacing all AGT judges except Simon. It started with [talk about replacing] Mel B and now it’s everyone,” said the first source.
Currently, Cowell, Mel B, Heidi Klum, and Howie Mandel serve as judges. They have been a foursome since Cowell joined the panel in 2016 at the start of Season 11. However, Mel B, Klum, and Mandel have been working together since 2013’s Season 8. Mandel has been with America’s Got Talent the longest though — he joined the show in Season 5 in 2010. The show is heading into Season 14 this summer.
Piers Morgan, Howard Stern, Brandy, Sharon Osbourne, and David Hasselhoff were previous judges on the show, which debuted on NBC in 2006.
The second source said that “Simon’s ready for new judges,” but does not know which celebrities he has in mind for the panel.
Meanwhile, a third person claiming to have insider knowledge said that the other sources were “inaccurate” and that “the brand is extending, and is doing phenomenally well.”
Page Six did reach out to a rep for the show, but the person would not give them a comment.
As for who will host Season 14 of America’s Got Talent , the first insider told Page Six that Tyra Banks is already gone. She had been with the program for two seasons, from 2017 to 2018.
The Inquisitr wrote about the supermodel’s supposed departure from the competition series in December, saying that she reportedly wants to focus her efforts on producing and acting.
“I think I had a really nice run with AGT . I had a lot a lot of fun,” she told Access on November 30.
Right now, America’s Got Talent: The Champions is airing Monday nights on NBC with actor Terry Crews as the host of the AGT spinoff. There has been no official word yet as to whether or not he will return for the main show.
Regis Philbin was the show’s original host. Then Jerry Springer emceed for two seasons. Nick Cannon was the presenter for the longest amount of time, eight seasons. He was forced to leave AGT after there was backlash regarding some risky jokes he made about the series and the peacock network in his 2017 Showtime stand-up special, Stand Up, Don’t Shoot .
America’s Got Talent: The Champions is scheduled to air on NBC until February 18. The main series will most likely be back in May for Season 14.
