With the ink still drying on Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello's divorce papers, Howie Mandel couldn't stop himself from cracking an on-air joke about Vergara's new relationship status.
And even after online backlash that the gag was too soon, Mandel is defending the moment and claiming Vergara was in on the joke.
On a recent episode of America's Got Talent, in which Mandel judges alongside Vergara, the panellists were watching an act from ventriloquist Brynn Cummings. During the performance, the 12-year-old asks Heidi Klum, also a judge on the show, to help her pick an "eligible bachelor" for the ventriloquist's puppet.
After the act, Mandel lauded the act as "amazing" before ribbing Vergara. "If I have one word of advice, if you're looking for eligible bachelors, you should've talked to Sofia, 'cause she's in the market right now'," he said.
As the live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium reacted with a mix of cheers and groans, Vergara looked down while smiling shyly, before beaming, stretching out her arms and yelling, "Yeah!"
She turned toward Klum and laughed.
However, the show's host, Terry Crews cut into the moment, calling out from the stage, "No, we are not doing that here."
While "people were killing" Mandel online over the joke, criticising it for being "too soon" and "tasteless," the comedian doubled down on his humorous take, telling Entertainment Tonight that he was "helping Sofia."
"It's not too soon," Mandel continued. "It's too soon when she's still married. Last season was too soon. Even if she saw it coming. I don't think she did. I'm just saying, that was too soon. As soon as she's free, as soon as they live in separate homes, the door is open, people!"
Mandel then assured that Vergara had come over "and she thought it was funny" and had "approved of the joke."
"I'm her Bumble," he added.
After the episode aired, Vergara shared behind-the-scenes shots from the episode on Instagram, including a selfie with Mandel, captioning the post, "Luv u @howiemandel" with star emojis.
After nearly eight years of marriage, Vergara and Manganiello announced their divorce in late July. "As two people that love and care for one another very much," they said in a joint statement to Page Six," we politely ask for respect for our privacy at this time as we navigate this new phase of our lives."
The pair of actors did not have children together, which TMZ and People cited as a potential reason for the split: Manganiello wanted to have them and Vergara did not.
She already has an adult son, Manolo Gonzalez Vergara, whom she gave birth to when she was 18. She was also embroiled in a protracted custody battle over two embryos with her ex, Nick Loeb, that she won in 2021.
Divorce papers filed by Manganiello on July 19 showed the pair had been separated since July 2.
Court records show Vergara responded on July 31 and filed her own petition to dissolve their marriage. Both cited "irreconcilable differences" and stated in court documents that they have a prenuptial agreement and will decide who gets what, and how much. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
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