Heidi Klum Is Absent From Tonight’s AGT Episode Due to Coronavirus Scare

Heidi Klum AGT

NBC

For tonight’s June 30 episode of America’s Got Talent, fans of the reality talent competition may be surprised to see that judge Heidi Klum, once again, is absent from the episode. As we learned last week, she got sick while they were filming the show back in March, and was sent home to recover away from the shows cast and crew.

With Klum absent from AGT, the judges’ panel welcomed actor Eric Stonestreet to be the interim guest judge until Klum was able to safely return.


In Spite of Showing Symptoms, Klum & Her Husband Tested Negative for Coronavirus

At the time Klum got sick with a fever and a sore throat, the number of cases of coronavirus in the US was just starting to spike, so the fear was that she possibly had COVID-19. Since she had some of the symptoms of coronavirus, production was worried that she ran the risk of infecting the many people involved in making AGT possible.

In an interview with People, she explained, “When I fell ill, it was on March 10. I was experiencing fever and sore throat, so I told production and immediately the medic did my vitals and said, ‘Yes, you have a fever,’ and then I was dismissed.” Continuing, she added, “It felt strange to leave, but that was the right thing to do. I told them how I was feeling. They looked at me, checked me out and said, ‘Yeah, go home.’ Then I was asked to get tested ASAP so that I could go back to work because we didn’t know that this was all unfolding the way it did. They were like, ‘Okay, get tested as fast as you can.'”

Ultimately, she and her husband Tom Kaulitz both tested negative for coronavirus; however, it was still a scary and frustrating experience. She said that after she was sent home from AGT filming, “I tried and I went on the search for the test. I was unaware that there were no tests anywhere. I was just asking everyone because we were told that there are tests for everyone. That wasn’t really the case, so that took a really long time. Obviously, [the AGT team] were all nervous there too. We were just all learning things every day and it took a really long time until I could tell people that I was negative.”


Klum Returned to the Show in Time to Film the Judges’ Cuts

According to Gold Derby, Klum’s illness caused he to miss the rest of audition filming. She was, however, able to return in time for the judges’ cuts round of the competition. Klum’s first episode back will air on July 28, when the first of the season’s 3 judges’ cuts episodes airs.

The final two audition episodes of the season air on June 30 and July 14. A “best of” episode airs the following Tuesday on July 21.

With the coronavirus pandemic ongoing, the show eliminated the audience presence for the remainder of their pre-taped episodes and took extra precautions to prevent the spread of illness between the acts, judges, and team working behind the scenes to keep the show running.


New episodes of America’s Got Talent season 15 air on Tuesday nights at 8/7c on NBC.

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