“America’s Got Talent” winner Adrian Stoica plans to reward his dog, Hurricane, after the dog act secured the NBC competition show’s $1 million prize. What does she love the most? Sheep.
“I will take some extra food for Hurricane and buy some sheep, because she’s a border collie and loves to herd sheep,” Stoica told TheWrap on Thursday morning following his monumental “AGT” win during Wednesday night’s Season 18 finale.
Stoica recalled the “unbelievable” moment when host Terry Crews crowned him and Hurricane. “It was insane [and] crazy, [with] a lot of emotions,” Stoica said.
Stoica and Hurricane secured a win following an impressive musical act during the two-part finale, in which the border collie assisted his owner in preparing to woo judge Sofía Vergara. While the pair initially had a cut-out of the “Modern Family” actress on stage, they invited Vergara up to the stage later in their performance.
“It was very nice to have Sofía on the stage with us,” Stoica said. “We are near Hollywood, so we built a Hollywood love story, and it was great to see Hurricane acting with Sofía.”
Stoica dedicated their performance to his older dog, Rory, who passed away recently, and who Stoica calls a “great friend” to himself and Hurricane.
“That happened after the semifinals, so it was a very difficult moment for us, and I think for my dogs [at] home,” Stoica said, who added that Rory is keeping an eye on them from above. “I think she knows — she sees everything — so I’m happy.”
Inspired by a love of storytelling, Stoica noted it took a couple years of studying to become a dog trainer and develop his musical dog acts with Hurricane, which are largely built from Stoica’s own creativity. After seeing Hurricane’s talent and natural acting abilities, Stoica was encouraged to see how far the pair could make it on the show.
“Hurricane is nine but she’s still in training,” Stoica said. “We are training every day with new stuff, new things so it’s never-ending training… She is always ready to learn new stuff.”
In addition to their $1 million prize, the duo also secured the headlining performance slot in “America’s Got Talent Presents Superstars Live” at the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“Our plan is to go home and start to work on a new act for Las Vegas,” Stoica said. While Stoica doesn’t have an act in mind for the Las Vegas show yet, he noted “I can’t wait to start rolling on the new act.”
