As a circus artist surprised the Britain’s Got Talent judges with a scary act, Simon Cowell was left cowering behind his hands.
Antony Torralvo entered the stage to show one-handed balance on chairs placed atop bottles.
As Antony’s helpers were brought in to toss him up more and more chairs, which he continued stacking before showing off his power and balancing on one hand.
The judges and audience at the London Palladium gasped in fear, unwilling to gaze in case it all came crashing down.
The judges were cheering on their feet as the act ended many feet in the air.
All four judges applauded as the performer flung the chairs back down the tower, with his assistance – subsequently revealed to be his family – collecting them below.
‘Brilliant! It was unbelievably scary to watch,’ Simon commented.
‘I thought you were fantastic, you’re crazy but I’ve never seen anything like it,’ Alesha Dixon added.
Amanda Holden branded the performance ‘extraordinarily brave and courageous.’
Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli rounded off the comments, saying: ‘You’re obviously an artist I can tell, because I could see there was choreography there.’
He added: ‘You made it look easy, it’s insane!’
‘You risked your life, so yes,’ Simon praised, as the auditionee went on to score four yes’.
‘That chair stacking man was a madness,’ one viewer wrote, while another penned: ‘How do people not have a fear of heights, made me feel sick watching him up there.’
Talking about how tense it was to watch the performance, one wrote: ‘If King Charles watched this I think he’d have an aneurysm.’
Another penned: ‘Do love a bit of danger. It’s when it started wobbly I was like oh my god.’
Britain’s Got Talent airs Saturdays at 8pm on ITV1.
