Kenan Thompson returned to the America’s Got Talent judges’ table on Sept. 1, stepping into Simon Cowell’s seat as the longtime judge temporarily stepped away from the competition to undergo a routine procedure related to his back.

The Saturday Night Live veteran joined Howie Mandel, Sofía Vergara and Mel B for the third round of Season 21’s live quarterfinals, giving Thompson another opportunity to serve as an AGT guest judge during one of the most important stages of the competition.

Cowell, 66, is expected to miss a few weeks of the NBC series while recovering. His representative described the procedure as “routine” and said Cowell is expected to return within a few weeks, although an exact return date was not initially announced.

The latest procedure comes six years after Cowell suffered a serious back injury in an electric bicycle accident at his Malibu home in August 2020. The accident left him with a broken back and required a roughly five-hour operation involving spinal fusions and the insertion of a metal rod. Cowell subsequently missed part of America’s Got Talent Season 15 while recovering.

That history also makes Thompson a particularly familiar choice to take over Cowell’s chair.

Thompson previously filled in as an AGT guest judge in August 2020 after Cowell’s accident forced him away from the live shows. At the time, Thompson joined Mandel, Vergara and then-judge Heidi Klum for the live quarterfinals.

Six years later, the circumstances brought Thompson back to the same seat.

His Sept. 1 appearance came during the third round of Season 21’s quarterfinals, with 11 acts performing and the judges holding the power to send one act directly to the finals with a Golden Buzzer.

Thompson’s appearance was not expected to become a permanent change to the judging panel. Cowell remains a judge and executive producer of the series, with his absence being treated as temporary while he recovers. AGT also planned to rotate additional guest judges into Cowell’s chair during his time away.

The arrangement ultimately created something of a reunion with AGT’s past. Thompson was the first guest judge brought in during Cowell’s latest absence, while former longtime judge Heidi Klum was subsequently announced to return to the panel as another temporary replacement.

For Thompson, meanwhile, stepping into a live NBC production is familiar territory. He has been a cast member of Saturday Night Live since 2003 and is the longest-tenured performer in the show’s history.

His latest America’s Got Talent appearance brought him back to a role he first took on under remarkably similar circumstances: Simon Cowell needed time away to address his back, and Kenan Thompson was once again called to keep his seat warm.