Fans call AGT 'fake' after wife's identical reaction

Australia’s Got Talent is being trolled over a repeat performance that’s sparked accusations of the show being ‘faked’.

An escape artist stole the show on last night’s audition round of AGT, but though judge Shane Jacobson described it as ‘the birth of a great illusionist’, this isn’t escape-artist Demian Aditya’s first rodeo.

A viral moment revisited

Two years ago, Demian went viral when he left his wife and the judges distraught with a sandbox escape on America’s Got Talent that seemed to have gone horribly wrong.

The YouTube video of the audition racked up over 25 million views, so it wasn’t surprising that when the same man walked onto the Australian stage last night, and the same wife wrung her hands in despair, more than one viewer raised a sceptical eyebrow.

Demian proceeded to perform the same act, in which a steady stream of sand trickles onto a weighted platform, underneath which the artist is shackled, trying desperately to free himself before the level tips and he is suffocated by the sand.

When the sand unexpectedly comes crashing down before he escapes, his wife keels over, distraught as the judges jump to their feet, surely something has gone wrong.

Fake reaction?

Though their fears are put to rest when Demian somehow runs from the wings disguised as an emergency worker, his wife’s extreme reaction has raised serious suspicions that the act is completely fabricated.

The shocked reaction - that carried on after the reveal - is identical to her reaction more than two years before.

Viewers have slammed the pair as disingenuous, pointing to the 2017 version as proof that both the wife and the judges are acting.

“I believe the wife deserves an OSCAR for acting the same way on America's Got Talent,” one sceptical viewer wrote.

“Don't any of the judges watch any of the other got talent shows?” another wondered.

“She did the exact same thing on America's Got Talent when he did the exact same trick,” another wrote.

A season of re-runs?

Many also took the opportunity to point out that this season has repeatedly imported acts that have appeared on overseas versions of the shows.

The divisive ‘Pricasso’ first appeared on Sweden’s Got Talent last year, and contortionist Troy James wowed the American judges - albeit not with an identical act - long before he arrived on the Aussie stage.

“Is this Australia Got Talent or failed America’s Got Talent,” a frustrated viewer wrote.

With just two rounds of auditions left, it’s clear people are craving a more original act, whether or not they will get one remains to be seen.

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