Simon Cowell is leaving fans stunned, shocked, and scared with his latest “frozen” face look as Stephen Merchant jokes about his face not moving.
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During a recent appearance on the TV series ‘Saturday Night Takeaway,’ Cowell had fans questioning what he’s done to his face. The 64-year-old ‘American Idol‘ alum made an appearance on this year’s first episode of the comedy game show, presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, aka Ant & Dec.
As Ant & Dec hosted their 20th series, which is set to be the last, the first episode of 2024 including the pair’s usual segments, “Ant vs. Dec,” and them pranking celebrities, like poor Simon Cowell, who they initially and previously pranked in their first ever series in 2003.
Ant & Dec pranked the ‘American Idol‘ alum by getting him pulled over by security as he rode his bike in Malibu, before causing an ‘America’s Got Talent‘ performance to go left. Cowell is known for riding his bike through Malibu, California, so Ant & Dec took advantage of this fact and set up a fake security officer to pull him over.
The phony security guard ended up telling Cowell that his bike was not “regulation colors” and that he needed to have reflective safety gear. Due to the latter “violation,” the fake officer pulled out a “complimentary” safety vest for Cowell to use. However, the prank didn’t stop there.
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Ant & Dec proceeded to pull another joke on Cowell. The duo dressed up as part of magician Darcy Oake’s act, taking on the roles of his assistants. In this prank, it involved Cowell being locked into a metal box.
Taking things to a new level, Oake was seen swallowing the “only key” to the padlocks of the box, leaving Cowell “trapped” inside. Then, Ant & Dec had an actor, who was posing as a health and safety instructor, go on stage to try and free Cowell from the metal box. Following “failed” attempts, the group strapped a fake explosion to the box, which left Cowell even more worried and terrified.
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At this point, Ant & Dec both break character to admit to Cowell that it was all just a prank. Cowell responded, “You! I am going to k*ll you.” After his prank episode, Cowell appeared on another episode of Ant & Dec’s series to break everything down. He told the duo, “That whole day was just a total nightmare.”
After Cowell’s appearance, the show’s guest announcer, comedian and actor Stephen Merchant, took a jab at Simon Cowell’s face. When asked what he thought about the prank, Merchant said, “I didn’t like it… I loved it. That’s my Simon Cowell impression. It’s my Cowell impression but it’s not very convincing because my face moved.” When the camera panned back to Ant & Dec, they both looked shocked and just laughed.
Meanwhile, viewers at home took to X (formerly Twitter) and also commented on Merchant’s comments and Cowell’s “frozen” face. One user wrote, “Stephen Merchant’s comment on Simon Cowell. Yikes.” Another said, “Stephen Merchant’s dig at Simon Cowell. Boom.” However, not everyone was left laughing. One expressed concern and said, “Is Simon ok?”
Another wrote, “Is Simon okay?! He looks so unwell.” Another user said, “Seriously how much work has Simon Cowell had done? He can’t move his face!!!!” Another said, “Simon Cowell has had so much work done he now looks like a ventriloquist dummy. He can only move his face from top lip down.” One fan was scared and said, “Simon Cowell’s face looks so scary these days #saturdaynighttakeaway.”
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