'America's Got Talent' Magician Mastermind Left the Competition, and No It's Not an Illusion

Contestants who get far in America's Got Talent typically stick it out as long as they can to see if they can make it all the way to the end and win the entire season. But for Mastermind, that's not the case. When host Terry Crews shared in an episode that Mastermind withdrew from AGT, citing unknown "personal reasons," fans were shook.

Why would Mastermind withdraw from AGT at the height of the competition, with an advantage from his growing fan base? The magician is known on the show for using his illusions and technology to wow the audience and judges. He is also known for keeping his face covered and his real identity a secret. But after his exit from AGT, some fans think they have it all figured out.

After Terry shared that Mastermind withdrew from AGT, the former contestant posted a statement about his exit on Instagram. He wrote that, as Terry said, he had to exit the show for "personal reasons." He also wrote that he is "honored" and "grateful" to have been part of Season 20 of the long-running competition series.

Since that didn't exactly explain more details of the "why" of it all, fans commented on the post to speculate. And, according to one of Mastermind's fans, the magician left AGT because it was a direct conflict of interest with his fame in real life. If that's the case, then you'd think Mastermind wouldn't have competed at all. But, according to the fan, it's one reason why he left AGT on his own.

"Personally I think that he withdrew from the competition because he didn't want to reveal his true identity to the general public as that may interfere with his current fame," they wrote.

Someone responded to the comment to say that Mastermind performs in Las Vegas under his real name. So it's possible that his work with the Las Vegas show meant that he was contractually unable to essentially work on AGT.

One of the fans who commented on Mastermind's post about leaving AGT shared that the identity of the former contestant is Colin Cloud, whose Las Vegas show, called Colin Cloud Mastermind, has been going on for quite some time. Colin has not publicly shared if he is Mastermind on AGT, but it's a theory that a lot of fans have.

In a Reddit thread about Mastermind withdrawing from AGT, one fan wrote that Colin had to cancel some of his shows at the same time AGT was filming.

Mastermind did not have an Instagram before he auditioned for AGT. The first post was in May 2025 after he signed up, so he definitely wanted to keep his real identity a secret. Now, fans may never know for sure, but plenty of them have their suspicions.

Watch America's Got Talent on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.