The competition on “America’s Got Talent” Season 21 is about to get a star-powered upgrade. For the first time, “AGT” is giving us a new round called the Judges’ Callbacks. This will give viewers a chance to see inside the homes of the “AGT” judges — Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Mel B, and Sofia Vergara — as they try to decide which acts will earn the final spots in the live shows on “America’s Got Talent” 2026. To help make these difficult decisions, the judges are bringing in some celebrity guest judges, so check out these big names below in our “America’s Got Talent” spoilers.
What Is the Judges’ Callbacks Round?
After wrapping up the auditions last week, the judges started their deliberations and were having some trouble. They gave out so many yeses this season that they were struggling to whittle it down to the Top 44.
Ten of the spots would go to the Golden Buzzer acts. Some of the other spots were a given, based on the judges unanimously deciding to move them forward.
However, some of the acts were close to being chosen, but they wanted to see them perform again. Each judge will get to bring some of the acts straight to their home. They will work with these acts and decide which acts should make the Top 44 and which acts should head back home.
Guest Judges Lend a Helping Hand
To help the judges with these difficult decisions, it looks like NBC is bringing in six celebrity guest judges. Not only will we see some music industry heavyweights, but we will also see a Spice Girls reunion between Mel B and Emma Bunton.
Here are the celebrity guest judges each “AGT” judge will be working with for these Judges’ Callbacks Round:
- Mel B – Emma Bunton, or better known as Baby Spice.
- Simon Cowell – Normani, whom Simon worked with on “The X Factor USA” as a member of Fifth Harmony, and acclaimed songwriter and producer Poo Bear.
- Sofía Vergara – Social media star Lele Pons and Colombian singer Sebastián Yatra.
- Howie Mandel – It’s all about comedy for Howie, as he is bringing stand-up star Nikki Glaser to help him through the process.
Simon Cowell Helped Discover This New Format
So, how did this new round come about? It turns out it was a conversation Cowell had with one of the show’s producers.
The executive producer talked to NBC Insider, stating the concept of this new round was for each judge to revisit contestants they wanted to know better before making the big final decision.
Simon loved the new round, saying he spent time with these acts. He wanted to get to know them more, find out their career goals, and their personal stories.
Cowell said these conversations helped to give him a better understanding of the contestants. He thinks viewers are going to get to see a side of the performers that wasn’t possible during the auditions.
The Judges’ Callbacks take place on August 4 and August 11. The live shows will then kick off the week after, on August 18.
