Howie Mandel defended his joke about Sofia Vergara’s newly single standing — and revealed he’s on a mission to search out her Mr. Proper.
“I believe all people watching [America’s Got Talent] who is obtainable believes they’re the proper match for Sofia,” Mandel, 67, informed Additional in an interview printed on Wednesday, August 23. “I don’t suppose Sofía, to be sincere … she doesn’t want my assist. She actually doesn’t. I consider that she’ll be fending them off.”
He continued: “Let’s try to do it by the tip of the season. We’ll discover her a match and go away it to America to vote.”
Mandel, who cohosts AGT with Vergara, 51, known as the actress “a fantastic buddy, an excellent individual, businessperson [and] powerhouse” with “an incredible humorousness” earlier than noting that whoever she finally ends up with is “actually, actually fortunate.”
Mandel’s feedback come at some point after AGT’s first week of stay exhibits, which kicked off on Tuesday, August 22, the place he had some stunning recommendation for 12-year-old ventriloquist Brynn Cummings.
“I’ve one phrase of recommendation. In case you’re on the lookout for eligible bachelors, you must have talked to Sofia, as a result of she’s out there proper now,” he joked, to which Vergara — who cut up from estranged husband Joe Manganiello in July — enthusiastically replied, “Sure!”
When speaking to Additional on Wednesday, Mandel defended his remarks, regardless of receiving some pushback for attempting to get Vergara to go on a date so rapidly after calling it quits with Manganiello.
“Folks had been on-line saying, ‘Too quickly.’ I believe as quickly as you’re accessible, it’s by no means too quickly. She’s recent, folks,” he quipped. “Folks thought that was imply and insensitive. In case you watched Sofia, she screamed after she came visiting to me and thought it was humorous. She mentioned, ‘Sure,’ so she’s received a fantastic humorousness and I wouldn’t do something to harm a fellow — a buddy first, and a fellow co-worker.”
After clearing the air, Mandel added: “‘[If] you may consider someone [for Sofia to date], ship it our manner and we’ll both swipe left or proper.”
Tuesday’s episode of the NBC expertise present marked Vergara’s first TV look since Manganiello, 46, filed for divorce after nearly eight years of marriage. In response to court docket paperwork obtained by Us Weekly on the time, the estranged couple’s date of separation was listed as July 2. A supply later informed Us that Vergara and Manganiello had been not “on the identical web page” of their relationship.
“She would reasonably exit with mates and he would reasonably keep residence, so that they wouldn’t spend a variety of time collectively,” the insider defined. “They’ve been dwelling separate lives for a few yr now, so it was time to name issues off.”
The actress has since filed authorized paperwork requesting for the course to implement the pair’s prenup, requesting sure property to stay below her possession and to take care of her earnings from earlier than and through her relationship with Manganiello.
As Vergara types out the small print of her cut up, Mandel isn’t the one considered one of her mates to touch upon her potential future romances. Julie Bowen, who starred alongside Vergara on Fashionable Household from 2009 to 2020, gushed over her longtime pal earlier this month.
“Every part [Sofia] does, she does with grace,” Bowen, 53, informed E! Information on Monday, August 21. “And he or she rises above and she or he simply goes ahead. She’s heat and beneficiant and giving to all people round her. I’ve little question that if she needs to be in a relationship she shall be however she certain don’t want one.”
