Britain's Got Talent stuntman Jonathan Goodwin left paralysed after escapology act goes wrong

4 May 2022, 13:10 | Updated: 4 May 2022, 14:31

By Alice Dear

Jonathan Goodwin 'nearly died twice' and has been left unable to walk after falling 30ft.

Jonathan Goodwin, 42, has been left paralysed after rehearsals for a dangerous escapology act went wrong.

The star, who has appeared on Britain's Got Talent and America's Got Talent, lost a kidney, severed his spinal cord, broke both his shoulder blades, shattered both his legs and suffered third degree burns during the horrific accident.

The incident happened while Jonathan was rehearsing an act in which he hangs upside down in a straight jacket between two cars suspended in the air.

• Listen now on Global Player: Never Have I Ever with Joel Dommett & Hannah Cooper

The idea of the act was that the cars would be released just as he escaped from the straight jacket and fell onto the airbag on the ground.

However, the act went horrifically wrong when the cars were released at the wrong time, meaning Jonathan smashed in-between them as they set on fire.

As well, the crash matt was not moved which meant he fell 30ft to the ground.

This story was relayed by Jonathan's fiancée, actress Amanda Abbington, who recently opened up about the traumatic experience from October 2021 on Jay Raynor's podcast Out To Lunch.

Amanda said that despite everything Jonathan has been through, he remains positive.

She said: "You would never believe that he's been through all that, he's so positive and upbeat and strong."

The actress, who was previously married to her Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman, also revealed that Jonathan has now retired from his profession after "nearly dying twice" – once when the incident happened and once on the operating table.

She said that he left her a message before going into surgery to tell her that he had a 50/50 chance of surviving.

In the message, he told her he loved her and thanked her for the time they had had together.

Jonathan shared a picture from a hospital bed back when the accident happened, but has only recently shared a picture of himself in a wheelchair.

In the caption given to the picture of him with his beloved dog, Jonathan wrote to his fans: "Six months ago I went to rehearse something and left this little hairy monkey waiting patiently for me…he didn’t see his dad again until just a couple of weeks ago and when he finally did, dad had new cool wheels.

"A lot has changed in the last 6 months, but love is a constant and I’m very very loved. Looking forward to my next chapters and being a roll model."

Britain's Got Talent's Jonathan Goodwin SETS HIMSELF ON FIRE in unthinkable escape act

Amanda and Jonathan are now planning their wedding, and hope to tie the knot in the summer.

When the pair first connected, Amanda said they would speak on the phone for seven hours at a time, and that after weeks of this, they finally met in Vienna.

She said that half an hour into meeting for the first time Jonathan had proposed.

Amanda made it clear that she was sticking with her fiancé following his accident on the podcast.

She told Jay that Jonathan had told her he would understand if she wanted to walk away, but that she replied to him that she "wasn't going anywhere".

The actress said: "It never once occurred to me to do that, of course not. He's just the most beautiful human being I've ever met."

Read more:

• Britain's Got Talent viewers ‘expose’ The Witch’s identity after spotting detail
• Ant McPartlin suffers bloody head injury while filming Britain's Got Talent
• Britain's Got Talent fans spot padlock detail during escapologist act