Has Anyone Actually Died on 'America's Got Talent'? They've Come Very, Very Close to It

On America's Got Talent, contestants pull the most impressive (and surely death-defying) tricks that make the audience "ooh" and "ahh" at their screens. There have been some seriously risky stunts pulled, like knife-throwing, dangerous object-juggling, shooting arrows, and using fire in...all kinds of ways. This has made some viewers wonder if there's ever been an accident — or even a death. Has anyone actually died on AGT?

The thought is really morbid, but our minds went there, anyway. And because we're curious, we investigated.

Luckily, nobody in the history of America's Got Talent has died while filming their stunts. In fact, nobody has died, period, on AGT. The contestants performing the stunts are professionally trained, and can generally handle accidents, or a trick gone wrong (it does happen).

While this is a relief to know, there have been (non-fatal) injuries.

While contestants aim to be as safe as possible, there have been injuries on America's Got Talent. During Season 11, Ryan Stock and his partner AmberLynn Walker's quarterfinal act involved a flaming arrow and a very small target...on a human face. AmberLynn shot a flaming arrow at Ryan, who was holding a target in his mouth. The engulfed arrow, instead of hitting the target, hit Ryan. He luckily didn't get too hurt. There has been at least one other accident and one near-accident that was prevented by the judges.

The other accident happened during Season 13. Husband and wife duo Tyce Nielsen and Mary Wolfe-Nielsen were to perform a set of trapeze stunts that involved fire (again) and a blindfold. Unfortunately, Mary slipped while she was balancing on Tyce's hands, and fell. If there wasn't a safety mat she could have definitely been severely injured.

In America’s Got Talent: The Champions, crossbow professional Ben Blaque attached a bunch of levers to crossbows which would randomly get shot at targets he placed on his body, including a target on his heart. Luckily, the judges stopped this act before it started, because, well, it was just a bad idea. Even Simon Cowell said that it could have marked the show's first death, which would be terrible.

To get an idea of what goes into these stunts, Ryan Stock talked to People back in 2016, explaining, “We put thousands of dollars into this. We did this 10 times a day, every day for three months. We had no mishaps and then we had a malfunction on stage during the live rounds.” He added, "The first few times it was definitely scary, but we learned to trust the equipment and we learned to trust each other. So neither of us saw this coming."

So, what did go wrong? According to a Facebook post (which isn't available anymore), "This was not Amber’s aim that was the problem. Her laser sight was on target. It appears as though the notch holding the arrow broke and sent the arrow sideways. Fortunately because of how it hit, it wasn’t at full power and I walked away with a minor injury."

Although Adam didn't want medical attention, the judges visited him later on. “They came by to make sure I was okay and feeling well and if I knew what happened. They wanted to know," he said.

When you perform dangerous stunts, accidents will likely happen — even to the most experienced professionals. You live and you learn, right?

Watch new episodes of AGT every Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.