America’s Got Talent season 21 premieres on June 2, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
Judge Simon Cowell teased a major twist fans can expect this season.
He also commented on why he’s “excited” about the change.
America’s Got Talent season 21 is officially here—and Simon Cowell just revealed a twist fans won’t expect.
With the first round of auditions set to premiere on June 2, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, fans are eager to see all the new talent, along with judges Sofía Vergara, Mel B, Howie Mandel and, of course, Simon.
Ahead of the season 21 premiere, though, Simon spoke to TV Insider about an unexpected change the show will make this year. AGT will introduce a “Judges’ Callbacks” round, allowing each judge to bring back acts they feel deserve another chance to make it to the live shows. When asked why the producers added this element, Simon gave a pretty candid response.
“One question I get asked a lot is, ‘How do you decide who makes it through to the live shows?’” he explained to the outlet in an interview published on June 2. “We’ve been trying to be more transparent year after year, and then we said, ‘Let’s just show the audience how we get to that place.’”
He also noted that the “Judges’ Callbacks” round includes the chance for judges to mentor returning acts.
“You have your Golden Buzzers, and there are about 44 spots [for the live shows],” he stated. “When you watch the tapes back, there’s about, say, 20 acts, which I call the no-brainers. Then we have the maybes—these are acts who we think have got potential, and in an ideal world, you’d want to see again. So, effectively, that’s what we’ve done. Each judge has chosen a number of acts they want to see … I might put all of mine through, or I might put one through. Whoever we feel has done enough to merit being in the live show. They come to my house, and I can give them a bit more advice this way.”
While we can imagine this new element of AGT won’t air for a little while, we can only hope it will make the show even better than before. And judging by what the promo showcased, season 21 is poised to be epic.
We seriously can’t wait!
