‘AGT’ Fans Have Mixed Feelings About Mel B. as a Judge

With the Auditions on Season 21 of America’s Got Talent ending on July 21, fans are weighing in on how they feel about Mel B. being back on the judges’ panel. The Spice Girls singer returned to the show last year after a seven-year hiatus.

A Reddit poster started a thread called, “I Love Mel B.,” and commented, “Mel B simply makes the show more interesting by showing confused expressions. That is extremely hilarious when I saw her confused face.”

However, not everyone agreed with this take. Many complained about how often Mel says, “I don’t get it,” about the acts that perform. “If you took a shot of tequila every time she doesn’t ‘get it’, you’d die of alcohol poisoning,” someone wrote. Another added, “Most of her confusions are just plain ridiculous.”

“She [only] puts thru acts that are hot,” someone else said, which is a complaint other commenters noted earlier in the season when she made her Golden Buzzer picks (Isaac Atkins and Mackenzie Sol.)

There were plenty of people who agreed with the original poster, though. Someone noted that the “hate” towards Mel in the forum was becoming “excessive,” adding, “Even though I don’t always agree with her opinions, I respect her and Howie [Mandel] the most because they both speak their minds regardless of what Simon [Cowell] and the audience thinks.”

Someone else also wrote, “A lot of the times I agree with her. People don’t like her because she actually gives critiques. Some acts are just not good, boring, or simply not enough.”

A neutral commenter said, “I think she’s good when she really enjoys an act and I’m glad she will Say she likes an act others didn’t but man she will Say no because she doesn’t get it a lot.”

Mel B. was an AGT judge from Seasons 8 to 13. After seven seasons away, she returned for the milestone 20th season in 2025 and is now back again alongside Cowell, Mandel, and Sofia Vergara.

America’s Got Talent, Season 21, Tuesdays, 8/7c, NBC