A Utah couple nearly crashed out of “America’s Got Talent” in Tuesday’s episode — literally.
Nearly 2½ minutes into what had been a stunning performance, things went horribly wrong for the husband-and-wife trapeze team of Tyce Nielsen and Mary Ellen Wolfe. After he put on a blindfold, she slipped through his hands and fell to the stage below, landing on a large pad.
To all appearances uninjured, Wolfe said the couple — who perform as Duo Transcend — wanted to try the blindfold stunt again, but the judges were having none of it.
“No! No, it’s fine! I don’t think they should do that,” said Mel B.
“It’s not ‘America’s Got Perfection,’” said guest judge Ken Jeong. “This is ‘America’s Got Talent.’ No one can do this. I mean, it’s OK.”
(Photo courtesy of Trae Patton/NBC) Utahns Mary Ellen Wolfe and Tyce Nielsen perform as Duo Transcend.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a singer on any of our competitions who’s been note-perfect. It still doesn’t make then not amazing. It makes them human. And the consequences of this are slightly worse than falling off-key, whereas you nearly broke your neck.”
Despite the mishap, the judges sent Nielsen and Wolfe on to the next round of the NBC talent competition.
“You almost got hurt very badly, and your first thought was, ‘Let me do that again,’” said Howie Mandel. “Only on ‘America’s Got Talent’ does that happen.”
Wolfe reiterated the couple’s reasons for wanting to win the competition and land a gig in Las Vegas — their young son, who was in the audience watching during the performance. Cameras cut to him reacting with shock when his mother fell.
“We work on the road a lot, and we have a 2-year-old son,” Wolfe said. “And we have to leave him at home most of the time. So the dream is to be in Vegas so that our family can be together.”
New episodes of “America’s Got Talent” air Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on NBC/Channel 5. The episode featuring Duo Transcend’s fall will be repeated Sunday at 7 p.m.
