24-year-old Connecticut native and Cirque du Soleil performer defeats seven finalists in live finale where viewer voting chose the winner.
HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Feb. 17, 2026 — Las Vegas magician and mentalist TJ Salta has been crowned the winner of Netflix’s Star Search, claiming the $500,000 grand prize in Tuesday night’s live finale that saw millions of viewers worldwide casting the deciding votes.
The 24-year-old from Norwalk, Connecticut triumphed in a finale determined entirely by viewer votes with no input from celebrity judges Jelly Roll, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Chrissy Teigen—a first for Star Search.
The finale began with four head-to-head matchups between the eight category champions. Viewers scored each performer on a five-star scale, and the top four performers advanced to a final multiple-choice vote: Salta, 15-year-old magician Harry Merlin Piper from Spain, aerialist duo Duo Vespertilio, and singer Steven “Spud” Howard.
Among all the acts that competed over five weeks of competition, the final moment came down to four performers standing on stage with host Anthony Anderson as the winner was announced—with two of them being magicians.
“This is the real magic right here,” Salta said following his victory.
From High School Injury to Vegas Headliner
Salta’s path to Star Search glory began with an unexpected twist—a high school sports injury that gave him time to master sleight of hand routines. His first major performance came at a school football game when he noticed “hundreds of people were watching me instead of the game. They started shouting my name instead of the name of the team.”
That moment sparked a professional career that would see him make history at age 21 as the youngest magician to headline on the Las Vegas Strip. He performed nightly in Cirque du Soleil’s “Mad Apple” at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino, where he captivated audiences with his unique blend of street-style charisma, close-up sleight of hand, and real-time mind reading.
Inspired by magicians Shin Lim and David Blaine, Salta carved out a niche in what he calls the “seductive side of magic”—intimate, close-up performances that feel less like tricks and more like superpowers demonstrated live.
A Dominant Run
Throughout Star Search’s nine-episode run, Salta established himself as one of the competition’s most consistent performers. Week after week, he defended his Variety Magician/Mentalist category championship with increasingly complex performances that left both judges and audiences baffled.
His performances regularly earned him near-perfect scores. In Week 5, he achieved a combined score of 4.68, including perfect 5-star ratings from all three judges. Judge Jelly Roll, who admitted “I don’t love magic. It creeps me out,” was repeatedly won over by Salta’s performances.
“You don’t know how bad I don’t want to like you. I think he’s definitely smug and cocky and handsome,” Jelly Roll said after one performance. “Every week you bring the thunder to this building. I was so involved in the drama when you were upside down. You got us dude. You made me love magic.”
Fellow judge Chrissy Teigen praised his ambitious, multi-layered illusions that incorporated audience participation, music, and mentalism in ways that even the judges couldn’t decipher.
The Entrepreneurial Magician
Salta’s success extends beyond the stage. An entrepreneurship major at Quinnipiac University, he built his magic career from the ground up, choosing his college major strategically. “There’s no magic major. I looked everywhere,” he explained. “I’m doing my own thing, and my passion is close-up magic, so once I decided to get serious about this, I had to figure out stuff like how to do my own branding and promote myself.”
His business acumen has led to high-profile performances for celebrities including David Copperfield, Kevin Hart, and Miranda Lambert, as well as appearances at major televised events including Super Bowl LVI, the NFL Draft, and the NHL Stanley Cup.He also claimed top honors on “Connecticut’s Got Talent” in 2018 and hosted the Magic Insider program on the Talent Recap YouTube channel before landing his Cirque du Soleil contract.
A Global Platform
The Star Search victory represents a career-defining moment for Salta, who now joins a lineage of talent competition winners and notable contestants including Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, and Adam Sandler—many of whom didn’t win but used the platform to launch iconic careers.
Host Anthony Anderson emphasized throughout the season that Star Search’s legacy wasn’t just about winners. “All of those people … didn’t make it to the final round or didn’t win, and we look at the careers that they’ve had since then,” Anderson noted.
For Salta, who has already performed for millions in Las Vegas, the Netflix platform offers something even bigger—a global audience and the validation that his modern approach to magic resonates beyond the casino floor.
What’s Next
With $500,000 in prize money and the Star Search crown, Salta is positioned to expand his already impressive career. His performances have been praised for bringing a contemporary, urban sensibility to magic while maintaining the technical precision and showmanship that define elite close-up work.
The victory also validates his business-minded approach to building a magic career in the modern entertainment landscape—from his college choice to his social media presence to his willingness to take on the pressure of live television competition.
As host Anthony Anderson announced his victory on the Star Search stage Tuesday night, TJ Salta proved that sometimes a high school sports injury can lead to the biggest break of all. The young magician from Connecticut is now positioned to become one of magic’s biggest names—and he’s got the Star Search title and half a million dollars to prove it.
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