Just when it looked like America's Got Talent Season 15 might return to something as close to normalcy as possible with the live quarter-final rounds, judge Simon Cowell had an extremely serious accident that landed him in the hospital. Cowell was said to be in the courtyard of his Malibu home and testing an electric motorbike produced by Swindon Powertrain, when something went wrong and Cowell fell to the ground, breaking his back in several places. Now, just over a week later, it appears Cowell is doing far better than many might have predicted.
Simon Cowell did send a self-aware message out to fans a day or two after the accident, noting the errors of his ways. That was hardly an indication for how the America's Got Talent mainstay was doing overall, since tweeting from bed on a phone is a lot easier than getting up to walk to a computer. According to People, though, Cowell is now back at home in Malibu a week after he underwent back surgery, and he's very happy to be reunited with both his family and "the fresh sea air."
Getting back home after a hospital stay is usually quite an invigorating process, even for those facing serious physical injuries. It sounds like that might be the case for Simon Cowell, too, as he has reportedly been doing a bit of work during his recovery process, by way of emails and phone calls and the like. Still, he's said to fully understand that he needs to take the proper time to let his back heal properly. Just because he can walk around again so soon after a five-hour surgery doesn't mean that he should be walking around.
It was reported that Simon Cowell was up and on his feet again without much assistance just two days after his surgery, which required a number of fusions, as well as a metal rod being put into his back. On the one hand, it's a great sign that the healing process is going well for him. But on the other, that kind of progress could also cause him to go too hard too soon, which could lead to further injuries. Here's hoping for the best, of course.
Because Simon Cowell was injured just as America's Got Talent was set to go into the live episodes, the show's producers didn't have very much time at all to figure out a workaround. Luckily, NBC is also home to The Voice and The Kelly Clarkson Show, so the Kelly Clarkson herself subbed in for her fellow American Idol vet during last week's episode. She won't be repeating that duty in back-to-back weeks, however, with NBC announcing that SNL star Kenan Thompson will be filling in for Simon Cowell during this week's episodes. Let's see if Cowell will be as positive about Thompson's episodes as he was about Clarkson's.
With no telling just yet when Simon Cowell might return to America's Got Talent, we do know the show will definitely be back every Tuesday and Wednesday night on NBC at 8:00 p.m. ET. There's lots of other great stuff on the way, too, which you can keep track of with our Fall 2020 TV premiere schedule.
