Why Mandel can’t remember Meghan Markle
Comedian and TV host, famous as a germophobe, was deemed legally blind
Howie Mandel does not remember Meghan Markle.
The Duchess of Sussex was once a resident of Toronto, the city where he was born, but also more importantly, a briefcasecarrying model on the game show Deal or No Deal which he hosted.
But the comedian and judge on America’s Got Talent is drawing a blank.
“In all truthfulness I can’t remember her. That’s an awful thing to say. She’s very talented but I only know her from watching Suits. I did not know she was on my show.”
Mandel is in a corner booth at a downtown Toronto diner, looking surprisingly languid for someone with a reputation for fulsome, frenetic motion. He has one leg splayed out on the vinyl clad booth, a beer and platter of fruit in front of him.
If it’s any consolation, he says, supermodel Chrissy Teigen also came up to him once and reminded him that she was also on his show, but he drew a blank there too.
“I said, yes, you’re the one on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and she said nope, that’s not it.”
You might think Mandel is being disingenuous — “I’m sure my wife is thrilled I don’t remember models,” he says — but there’s another explanation. He’s been wearing spectacles for about a year now after he realized he couldn’t read the road signs.
“They told me I was legally blind. So basically they’ve had a blind man judging a talent show all these years,” he says, taking a sip of beer.
Considering that he is pretty much, apart from U.S. President Donald Trump, the world’s most famous germophobe, I tell him that I’m surprised he’s not in a hazmat suit, since he’s conducting business in a greasy diner.
“What, are you trying to make me feel good? Don’t worry, I’m heavily medicated,” he retorts.
Most millennials know Mandel as a game-show host or as that guy on America’s Got Tal
ent. But he started out as a standup comedian, and then it was his breakout role as nutty intern Wayne Fiscus on the 1980s NBC medical drama St.
Elsewhere that earned him fame.
Now in its 13th season, AGT, which airs Tuesdays on City, has become a reality-show juggernaut.
The concept has been franchised globally, including Canada, where the series lasted one season, in 2012, with judges that included Martin Short and Measha Brueggergosman.
Mandel brightens up when he learns that some Canadian fans have signed a petition to reboot the show. So would he be interested in judging?
“It should come back. We have so many Canadians who score so highly on our show, we have some of the best comedians, the best dancers. It’s a great place to celebrate your own and for sure I would participate.”
Mandel says the key is to open up the competition globally, so it’s not just about Canadian talent. “On America’s Got Talent we accept people from all over the world. It’s not just from the U.S. At the French Open it’s not just French people who win. You have to be the best, wherever you’re from.”
In this season’s AGTpremiere, a contestant arrives wanting to be a judge and Mandel vacates his chair.
It turns out it’s not the easiest job in the world. But the 62year-old disagrees.
“It’s what I did when I was at home alone sitting in my underpants. It’s not scripted, there’s no preparation. It’s kind of an easy job. When I got in the business, talent judging wasn’t a business. But I’m the luckiest guy, because everything else takes more effort and in this show they just want me to sit there and tell them what I think.”
In the comedy business, saying what you think can be more problematic than you might think.
Case in point is fellow comic Roseanne Barr, who had Mandel as a guest on her talk show in 1998.
Barr was fired from her hit TV show after a racist tweet comparing a former Barack Obama aide to an ape.
“I think the reality is if you wrote a column using those words in the Star you wouldn’t have a job anymore,” says Mandel. “So I just think us, including yourself and anyone else in the media have to be responsible. People read us, watch us, listen to us and when we are given the privilege to do what we do, it’s important to remember that privilege can be taken away.”