Smallscreen News

Terri Seymour talks about her 'Idol' attack

By April MacIntyre May 21, 2009, 1:55 GMT

04/19/2009 - Terri Seymour - scary crazy people out there... © Chris Hatcher / PR Photos

Terri Seymour’s only interview recounts the terrifying assault after last night’s American Idol.

Seymour said, “It was all very scary…[A woman] put me in a headlock and tried to choke me.”

Terri Seymour’s frightening encounter with a dangerous kook after last night’s American Idol taping has rattled her nerves.

Seymour is an “Extra” correspondent and the ex and still good friend of Simon Cowell, and she spoke to Mario Lopez to detail exactly what happened when a woman attacked her, attempted to choke her and how she escaped.

“It was all so sudden…Very scary. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.”

Seymour had just finished covering the Idol finale when someone came up and violently grabbed her neck from behind. She told Lopez that while standing outside the Nokia Theatre along with “Extra” producer David Geha, her assistant and friend, a 33-year-old, 200 pound woman approached her.

Seymour said, “She came over to me and said, ‘You’re that girl from TV, right?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’…The next thing I know, this woman had me in a headlock and tried to choke me.”

As the woman grabbed Seymour, Geha came to her defense. “I yelled out, ‘What are you doing?’ and I lunged at her. She let go and took off running.” Luckily the area was heavily covered by police. Seymour said, “The police were fantastic. They were close by and managed to catch her.” The suspect was booked on a felony battery charge and is being held on $52,703 bail.

Cowell had already left the theater when the horrific incident took place.

“Extra’s” Exclusive interview with Terri Seymour airs tonight.