How a former Blue Peter presenter stunned America’s Got Talent judges

A 50th birthday gift from her fellow Spice Girls, a picture of a dog and a mobile phone.

Those were the prized possessions that three America’s Got Talent judges watched a former Blue Peter presenter appear to smash with a hammer.

But like all magic tricks, everything was not quite as it seemed and moments later the treasured items returned.

Joel Mawhinney, known as Joel M, said the “risky” trick was “the scariest experience” of his life.

But as he reminded the judges: “Everything that disappears must reappear.”

Going into the judges dressing rooms and taking some of their prized possessions might not be the best way of getting them on your side.

Smashing those items with a hammer is even less likely to help your chances.

Yet that is exactly what Mawhinney did, leaving Mel B, Sofía Vergara and Howie Mandel stunned before revealing that every item had somehow survived.

Mandel’s phone appeared inside a locked box that had been sitting in front of the judges throughout the audition.

The phone then began receiving texts from Mawhinney revealing where the other judges missing valuables had ended up.

Vergara’s framed picture of her dog was hidden inside her seat cushion, while Mel B’s bracelet was concealed in one of the famous Got Talent red buzzers.

“I don’t know how you do it. I believe in magic but I loved it,” Mel B said when giving her verdict, which was a yes.

Vergara laughed and said the “magic was very impressive”. She also voted yes, adding: “I don’t know if this was necessary, but it was very exciting.”

Mendel called Mawhinney “charming, you’ve got a good look”, but it was a no from the comedian, calling the performance “too slow”.

Cowell agreed on the length of the performance and said “you can’t do that on a live show”.

“Our audience love magic, which is exactly the reason I’m going to say yes.”

With three yeses, Mawhinney progressed to the next stage and remains in with a chance of winning the cash prize.

Mawhinney said that when he entered the judges’ dressing rooms he didn’t know what he would have ended up with.

“I knew the plan was to take prized possessions, or whatever I could find, but it just so happened that the jewellery was there,” he told BBC Good Morning Ulster programme.

“It’s a hard and set rule that if I’m performing magic, I don’t borrow possessions of people.

“I don’t like taking phones. I don’t like borrowing rings because I’ve just heard so many horror stories.

“But I thought, it’s America’s Got Talent, I have to do something. So I sort of went for it.”

The former presenter said producers had been inviting him to audition for America’s Got Talent since 2020, but he always felt it sounded like “a massive risk” and his “gut instinct was always no”.

“But then I left Blue Peter this year and wanted to establish myself as a magician again, because that’s what I’m doing now.

“And I thought, you might as well kick the whole thing off with something a bit extreme, so I’ll fly to the States and do that.”

Mawhinney, from Bangor in Northern Ireland, first appeared on Blue Peter in 2018 and later became the iconic children’s show’s 41st presenter.

After more than three and a half years on the show, he announced in July that he was leaving to focus on magic.

He said his experience presenting live television proved invaluable during the audition.

“The live training of Blue Peter meant I would’ve really struggled in that audition because there were so many different elements going on at once.

“I’m really glad I did it, but I mean, yeah, it’s the most nervous I’ve been for quite a while because you’re putting yourself into a massive risky position.”