Spoilers ahead for the August 22 episode of America's Got Talent Season 18.
Season 18 of America's Got Talent is heating up now that the qualifiers round has begun in the 2023 TV schedule, and the first post-audition episode delivered something that might not have made it to the airwaves if the broadcast wasn't live on NBC. When the judges were giving feedback to young ventriloquist Brynn Cummings, Howie Mandel seized the opportunity to crack a joke about Sofia Vergara's divorce from Joe Manganiello, and Vergara – sitting with just one seat separating her from Mandel – had an iconic reaction.
12-year-old Brynn Cummings' ventriloquist act for the qualifiers involved one of her puppets looking for a new boyfriend after a breakup, and she recruited Heidi Klum's help. Afterward, Howie Mandel said this to the young performer:
If I have one word of advice – if you're looking for eligible bachelors, you should have talked to Sofia because she is in the market right now.
It was a clear reference to her divorce from Joe Manganiello, and the crowd didn't seem to know whether or not to laugh. Simon Cowell started looking around the room, and Heidi Klum seemed to not want to look in any direction other than straight ahead. For his part, host Terry Crews immediately started saying "No! No, we are not doing that here!" and then tried to move the judging along. Sofia Vergara's reaction was the best, as she immediately cracked up at the joke and lifted her arms with a big smile of acknowledgment. What could have been extremely awkward was pretty funny instead!
If you missed the moment – or are like me, and just want to watch it again – you can find Howie Mandel setting up his joke around 4:10 in the video below or via a Peacock Premium subscription. Check it out:
This isn't the first time that Howie Mandel has poked fun at his fellow judges' personal lives on America's Got Talent, including when he roasted Simon Cowell for breaking his back during an incident with an electric bike. Like Sofia Vergara, Cowell laughed at the joke at the time. When you sit at a table for hours on end with a professional comic, maybe you just have to be ready for anything! For her part, Vergara told the beautiful story of Joe Manganiello's proposal on AGT a couple of seasons ago.
News that the Modern Family alum was splitting with her husband of seven years broke back in mid-July, and a usual reason was cited for why it was happening. Not too long after, she was said to be feeling very fortunate about the life she loves even if she was also sad about the end of her marriage, although she didn't publicly comment in her own words. The paperwork for the divorce filing revealed what she was aiming to keep independently after their split (including jewelry, artwork, and earnings), but there was apparently no argument over whether Vergara or Manganiello would keep custody of their dog.
Whether Sofia Vergara was genuinely amused by Howie Mandel's comment or just being a good sport is hard to say, but she definitely had a fun reaction to the joke about her divorce on America's Got Talent. You can see more of the banter between Mandel, Vergara, Simon Cowell, and Heidi Klum with new episodes of AGT on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET, all on NBC.
