Number 8 JD Anderson In January of 2022, a strongman on Britain’s
Got Talent required medical attention, at the London Palladium, following an act that
involved him breaking ice with his head.
JD “Iceman” Anderson was known for strongman feats that often involved him shattering objects
with various parts of his body.
A few years earlier, he’d established a Guinness World Record for smashing 88 ice
blocks by simultaneously using his head and forearms.
Prior to BGT, he’d auditioned for talent shows in Italy, France, Germany and the US.
During the 2022 audition, show judge Amanda Holden was filmed wincing as the ice blocks
Anderson was breaking got progressively larger.
The performance ended with him running head-first into a giant ice wall.
An onlooker described the aftermath by saying “It soon became clear he was in pain and
blood could be seen coming out of his head”.
The strongman was left with a bloodied face and had to be checked by the set’s doctors.
He wasn’t expected to suffer long-term damage but a concussion wasn’t ruled out.
Number 7 Ekaterina Kondrashina Russian woman Ekaterina Kondrashina suffered
a serious injury, in 2015, while performing for Dancing, the country’s version of the
American So You Think You Can Dance series.
23-year-old Kondrashina auditioned in the south-western city of Gelendzhik and she was
hoping to use the money from the competition to open a dance school in her town.
The young woman, who also described herself as a model and fitness coach on her social
media, was nearing the end of her solo dance.
She then dropped into a sudden split and launched herself forwards with too much force.
Kondrashina failed to brace properly and smashed her face into the floor.
Even though she’d been seriously hurt, she continued the routine, for roughly 30 seconds,
and finished it to the applause of the judges and the audience.
Moments later, the extent of her injury was revealed as Kondrashina clutched her face
and blood started pouring from her nose, which was suspected to have been broken in the impact.
She was treated and bandaged backstage but ended up having to be taken to the hospital.
Number 6 Kristy Cullum In June of 2019, during an edition of NHS
Got Talent, an English nurse was severely injured following a performance that involved
a fire breathing act.
The talent show, held annually by the health organization, took place at the Theatre Royal
in Winchester, Hampshire, in front of an audience of several hundred.
Fire-breather Kristy Cullum, a woman in her mid-30s, accidentally set herself ablaze during
her performance.
She had flammable liquid in her mouth and was ready to spit it out onto the flaming
sticks in her hands.
However, a droplet reached her windpipe, causing Cullum to splutter the fuel involuntarily.
Her mouth instantly caught fire but she reacted quickly to avoid potentially lethal damage.
Cullum knew that breathing in would’ve been devastating so she spat the burning fuel onto
her body and then used her arms to protect her mouth, nose and eyes from the flames.
She reached the side of the stage, where she was doused with a fire extinguisher.
Fortunately, she was able to receive help immediately as many medical professionals
were in attendance.
The talent show was cancelled in the aftermath.
Cullum was rushed to a hospital where she was placed in an induced coma for two weeks.
She survived after suffering extensive burns to her neck, chest and arms.
Her painful recovery included skin grafts and laser treatment but she vowed to perform
with fire again.
Number 5 John Goodwin A Welsh daredevil narrowly avoided death,
in October of 2021, after a failed stunt during rehearsals for America’s Got Talent: Extreme.
41-year-old escape artist Goodwin was familiar to fans of the talent show and its homologous
British series through several death-defying acts.
One of them saw Goodwin hanging upside down and doused in flammable liquid.
He was then set ablaze and unshackled a straightjacket to activate a fire extinguisher suspended
near his body.
During the semifinals of AGT, in 2020, he hung from a zipline, roughly 60 feet above
the ground.
Goodwin only used his teeth to cling to the harness, the ropes of which had been set on
fire, giving him limited time to open a lock and escape his shackles.
He successfully completed the stunt, much to the praise of the show’s judges and fans.
His 2021 stunt for AGT: Extreme was intended as his most daring to date but it went horribly
wrong, as shown by the harrowing footage circulated in its aftermath.
Goodwin was hanging upside down, high above the tarmac at the Atlanta Motor Speedway,
in Hampton, Georgia.
Simultaneously, on either side of the suspended stuntman, two cars were released and swinging
on a collision course with each other.
Goodwin was meant to undo his shackles and safely drop down to an airbag below, before
the two vehicles made contact.
Unfortunately, the timing had been miscalculated and he was crushed between the cars which
erupted into a fireball upon impact.
Worse still, as the escape artist plummeted 40 feet, he missed the cushion and landed
on his head.
The emergency services were called and Goodwin was airlifted to a hospital, where he underwent
urgent surgery.
Remarkably, he survived, and it subsequently emerged that he’d suffered cuts, burns and
multiple broken bones.
Later in October, Goodwin posted a photo to his Instagram that revealed injuries to his
face.
He thanked those who’d supported him and ensured his followers that he’d recover,
writing “I have a lot left to do in this world”.
AGT: Extreme paused production in the incident’s wake.
Number 4 Shacara McLaurin In 2011, a talent show rivalry resulted in
a vicious attack perpetrated by group of teenagers in Brooklyn, New York City.
It was centered on a high-school level competition, inspired by the Glee TV series, in which Shacara
McLaurin, a gifted singer, was among the favorites.
It was reported that, fueled by jealousy, other students plotted to attack McLaurin
so that she couldn’t take part in the show.
She’d received an ominous message on Facebook, the day before she was ambushed outside the
home of her voice coach.
McLaurin had been warned that others were going to hurt her so that she couldn’t sing
anymore.
Aaliyah Smith, later identified as the attack’s ringleader, and four others approached McLaurin
who was accompanied by a friend.
Smith told her perceived rival “I got a lock”, referring to the padlock she’d
hidden inside a sock, prior to unleashing a barrage of strikes.
A melee ensued as Smith and her accomplices, identified as students at Brooklyn Academy
and Bedford-Stuyvesant Preparatory, attacked McLaurin.
The latter’s friend tried to intervene but was struck as well.
McLaurin was left with a deep gash on her face, which required six stitches to mend,
and a severely bruised jaw.
Her attackers had achieved their nefarious goal as the beating had left McLaurin unable
to sing.
The talent show was cancelled in the incident’s wake.
Four of the attackers, identified as Decory Fletcher, Ashanti Garner, Brittany Williams,
and Chazmia Morrison, all of whom were reported as being in their late teens, were arrested
near the scene.
Smith was taken into custody a few days later and, like the others, was charged with felony
assault, menacing, weapons possession and harassment.
McLaurin, who eventually recovered from her injuries, became the face of an anti-bullying
campaign in the aftermath.
Number 3 Ryan Stock In 2016, audience members attending an America’s
Got Talent shoot were left in shock following a failed daredevil act.
Performing couple Ryan Stock and Amber Lynn Walker, who were engaged to be married at
the time, attempted a stunt that involved the latter shooting a crossbow bolt at the
former’s head.
Stock, who was also a sword swallower, pushed a pole down his throat at the end of which
there was a bullseye.
He then faced Walker as she pointed a crossbow, loaded with a flaming bolt, at the target.
The woman then pulled the trigger but her aim was off and, instead of hitting the bullseye,
the sharp needle struck Stock in the throat.
Flames engulfed his neck immediately after the impact and he began patting himself down,
mistakenly believing he’d caught fire.
The couple stopped the performance.
Stock maintained that he was alright but judges Simon Cowell and Howie Mandel insisted he
head straight to the emergency room.
The pair walked off stage and, fortunately, Stock hadn’t sustained life-threatening
injuries.
He later told the show’s presenters that he’d been the one to insist they do the
stunt, even though Walker was nervous about it.
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Number 2 Andrey Zheleznov On an edition of Ukraine’s Got Talent, in
the mid-2010s, Andrey Zheleznov presented a danger act that seemed to be a mixture of
martial arts and knife work.
The leather-clad performer began his routine energetically and, after doing a cartwheel,
pulled out a sword that had been concealed in the back of his assistant’s suit.
Zheleznov demonstrated his swordplay skills before his assistant removed his shirt.
The man then lay, with his legs in the air, on broken glass shards, visibly wincing as
they etched into his bare back.
He then rose to his feet and turned his back to the camera, which captured several glass
fragments that had become embedded in his skin.
His assistant, who in the meantime had donned a nurse’s outfit offstage, returned to Zheleznov
and helped him prepare for his big finish.
It involved the daredevil jumping through a spinning hoop that had inward-pointing knives
attached to it.
As Zheleznov was getting ready to make his leap, several attendees and even a jury member
were filmed clutching their faces in anticipation.
Zheleznov jumped and went through the hoop but one of the knives cut his back while another
caught his ankle, bringing the contraption down with him.
The extent of the daredevil’s injuries remained unclear.
He managed to get back to his feet and saluted the audience but, as he turned around, streaks
of blood were seen on his back.
Number 1 Tyce Nielsen and Mary Wolfe In July of 2018, acrobats Tyce Nielsen and
Mary Wolfe were auditioning for America’s Got Talent when their trapeze act went wrong.
The Salt Lake City couple, performing as Duo Transcend, was executing their acrobatics
high above ground.
Pyrotechnics were also a part of the display and, about midway through their routine, flames
erupted from each side of the bar on which they were suspended and from the floor below.
The culmination of their performance involved them both hanging upside down with Tyce blindfolding
himself and catching Wolfe as she slid on his body and dropped, head-first, towards
the flaming floor.
Unfortunately, the woman slipped his grasp and a collective gasp echoed through the theater
as she plummeted several feet.
Watching from the audience was Wolfe’s mother, who was visibly distraught upon witnessing
the terrifying fall, and the couple’s two-year-old son.
Wolfe hit the floor but got up moments later, without having sustained major injuries, and
even asked the judges if they could perform the blindfold trick again.
Thanks for watching!
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