Simon Cowell left co-star Sofia Vergara fearing she had shot him in the chest with a crossbow during a prank on America’s Got Talent. 

The music mogul pulled the shocking stunt after enlisting the help of stunt couple Ryan Stock and Amberlynn Walker on the latest episode of the US talent show. 

Ryan and Amberlynn previously went viral following a botched crossbow stunt on AGT, and Simon had Sofia believing things had gone even worse upon their return to the show.

Simon was brought to the stage and had a balloon placed above his head, while Sofia was blindfolded and told to wait for a prompt to fire the crossbow.

However, unknown to her, producers silently rushed on to the stage and made it look like Simon had been shot by an arrow, complete with fake blood.

While he lay on the floor pretending to be wounded, Amberlynn removed the arrow from Sofia’s weapon.

A stunned Sofia removed her blindfold and stared at Simon in horror. 

Letting her in on the act, he then said: “I got you!”

Sofia then apologised to Amberlynn for pushing her while she was in shock, before vowing to get her own back on Simon.

“You know I’m Colombian and we get revenge,” she said. 

Posting a clip on Instagram, Sofia wrote: “AYYEEE @simoncowell really got me!! I nearly had a heart attack when I took off that blindfold. Revenge prank planning starts now…”

Simon is currently judging the US series while Britain’s Got Talent is on hold due to the pandemic. 

BGT producers pulled the plug on the 2021 series late last year, deciding it was unable to go ahead without an audience present at the auditions. 

Last year’s live shows were delayed by four months as bosses worked out how to end the series while navigating the Covid situation. 

The competition was eventually won by musical comedian Jon Courtenay.