The ITV talent show returns on Saturday 22 February

Simon Cowell says he thought a Britain’s Got Talent contestant wanted to kill him when the act went wrong and a hammer narrowly missed his head by an inch.

In jaw-dropping scenes set to air on BGT, the music mogul was laid out on the floor while the man performing the act was smashing watermelons around the star with a mallet.

Security staff had to intervene to stop the audition because the contestant almost accidentally hit Cowell with a hammer when slipping on the watermelon juice, according to the TV judges. Cowell said he could feel the wind from the force of the hammer and the spray of the watermelon juice on his face.

Having watched the moment back, he told a small Q&A audience attended by Yahoo: “You know the feeling when you think somebody doesn’t want you on the show anymore? It was that. It was the closest I’m thinking genuinely, they actually want to kill me. I swear to God that’s how I felt. This guy got really nervous and he slipped, he was smashing these watermelons.”

Watch the watermelon moment in the BGT trailer below.

Fellow BGT judge Amanda Holden quipped that all of the producers were “howling with laughter” behind the scenes while the act was going on. Cowell joined in on the fun as he joked: “They were like: ‘carry on!'” Admittedly Cowell was relieved when the health and safety staff stepped in to pull the plug on the performance. He said: “The safety guys who are usually quite annoying came and stopped him. Thank god. Saved my life.”

Emergency staff were on stand by during the act. Holden added: “Even with St John’s ambulance, I don’t know what they would have done!”

The BGT judges all shared their horror on watching Cowell taking part in the act. Holden admitted to being horrified after watching it unfold before her eyes. She said of the incident: “It was so precarious because it was melons they were smashing so it was water everywhere. Any kind of safety there must have been was out the window. It was horrific.”

Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, KSI and Bruno Tonioli at the Britains Got Talent Press Launch. (Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)
Alesha Dixon admitted she realised how much she cared about her co-star. “We were genuinely worried,” Dixon said. “Please don’t do that again. Draw a line under it.” Cowell reassured everyone he didn’t want that to happen and didn’t expect it either.

Bruno Tonioli revealed how much of a close miss it had been. He added: “The hammer landed about an inch from his head!” Holden claimed this happened because Cowell failed to keep still.

“Because the guy was shaking and slipping,” Cowell explained. “And smashing the watermelons.”

Ant McPartlin, judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli, and presenter Declan Donnelly at the Britain’s Got Talent auditions at the Winter Gardens Blackpool in January 2025. (Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)
Holden added: “You said you felt the wind of the hammer.”

Dixon concluded that often the “hardest acts” to watch were the “most entertaining to watch back”.

This year marks the 18th birthday of the TV series. Cowell, Dixon, Tonioli and Holden are reprising their roles as judges on the show, with Ant and Dec taking on their roles as presenters.

KSI is joining the panel as a guest judge to fill in while Tonioli filmed Dancing With The Stars in the US due to a clash over filming which they were aware of before shooting the auditions.

The new series of Britain’s Got Talent kicks off on Saturday 22 February at the earlier time of 7pm, on ITV1, ITVX and STV.