Kenan Thompson is stepping in to lend a hand at America’s Got Talent in Simon Cowell’s absence.
Update (8/17/2020): According to Deadline, Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson is gearing up to head over to America’s Got Talent where he’ll serve as a guest judge on the series.
Specifically, Thompson can be seeing judging acts on the hit competition series during this week’s crop of episodes on Tuesday (August 18) and Wednesday (August 19).
Thompson will join AGT’s mainstay panel of judges, which this season includes Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, and Sofia Vergara.
News that Thompson will take over the fourth seat on the judging panel comes as Simon Cowell continues to be out for this season’s crop of opening live shows.
As we learned previously, Cowell is currently recovering from back surgery following an injury he suffered while in an electric bike accident.
Though Cowell won’t be seeing during this season’s opening live shows, it seems as though America’s Got Talent is making the best out of a bad situation by lining up some pretty great guest judges.
Last week, the series welcomed pop star Kelly Clarkson to fill in for Cowell on the series. We’ll be looking forward to seeing what acts catch Kenan Thompson’s fancy on this week’s episodes.
In addition, we’ll also be looking forward to to seeing who else America’s Got Talent taps to serve as a guest judge on the show!
Original Story (8/10/2020):
According to Deadline, pop star Kelly Clarkson is officially joining the America’s Got Talent family as a guest judge.
The “Since You’ve Been Gone” singer will be taking over the judge’s chair usually inhabited by Simon Cowell.
Cowell, who usually judges on the hit talent competition series alongside fellow judges Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, and Sofia Vergara, will be skipping this year’s opening live shows due to an injury.
Over the weekend, Cowell suffered an electric bike accident that found the music exec having to have back surgery.
As a result, Clarkson will be serving as a guest judge on Tuesday and Wednesday night’s telecast of the hit NBC series.
Related: ‘The Voice’ moving forward with remote shows in light of coronavirus
Clarkson and Cowell first met during the first season of American Idol (which Clarkson ended up winning), so the fact that she’ll now be filling in for him on another competition series is a bit of a full circle moment.
In a statement announcing her involvement with America’s Got Talent, Kelly Clarkson said: “My friend, Simon Cowell, is doing better now but was in an accident and won’t be able to make Tuesday and Wednesday’s live shows for AGT, but no worries America, someone far wiser, cooler, and hotter is taking his seat! The unbelievably amazing Kelly Clarkson 😜 You’re welcome in advance!”
American Idol aside, Clarkson is no stranger in sitting in the judges’ chair for competition series.
In fact, Clarkson currently serves as a judge on fellow NBC competition series, The Voice.
We’ll be excited to see her bring her energetic judging skills to America’s Got Talent later one this week!
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