Heidi Klum will return to America's Got Talent on Sept. 8 as Simon Cowell's temporary replacement, filling his seat on the judges' panel while he recovers from routine back surgery. The move gives the show a familiar face for a live episode that is being reshaped around Cowell's weeks-long absence.
The timing matters because the Sept. 8 broadcast is not a normal one. America's Got Talent will air a special three-hour live show, with two hours of performances followed by a one-hour results segment, and voting will stay open only during the performance window before closing at 10:05 p.m. ET and 7:05 p.m. PT.
Cowell's absence has already been felt on the panel. Terry Crews told viewers on the Aug. 25 episode that the surgery cannot be postponed and is not an emergency, but it still keeps Cowell out of the live shows for several weeks. That leaves the production with a temporary fix rather than a permanent change, and it has been filling the seat one week at a time.
Kenan Thompson was the first guest judge to step in on the Sept. 1 episode, and Klum now becomes the next to do it. Her return also brings a full circle moment for the show: she first joined America's Got Talent in 2013 for Season 8, stayed through Season 13 in 2018, came back for Season 15 in 2020, and remained through Season 19 in 2024, when she won with her Golden Buzzer act, Richard Goodall.
That history makes the replacement feel less like a stunt than a practical handoff. Klum knows the panel, the format and the pressure of live shows, which is exactly what the production needs while Cowell is away. How long she stays is still not pinned down, and no one has named the next guest judge after Sept. 8, but the show has made clear it will keep adjusting as needed.
America's Got Talent returned for its 21st season on June 2 and is heading toward a Sept. 23 finale on NBC. The schedule shifts around Cowell's recovery and the special Sept. 8 live broadcast leave one obvious question for the weeks ahead: who, if anyone, will be sitting in his chair after Klum's turn ends.
