Howie Mandel wasn’t happy with Kelly Ripa after the TV host made comments about his appearance and age after the singer celebrated her 70th birthday.
Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos opened their interaction on Monday’s episode of “Live with Kelly and Mark” by congratulating the “America’s Got Talent” judge on a major milestone.
“It makes no sense,” Ripa, 55, added. Mr. Mandel asked, “What do you mean by meaningless?”
Consuelos, 54, tried to clarify his wife’s comments about the comedian, saying it was because “you look great.”
“Do you think I look nice?” Mandel repeated. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
“No, no, no,” Mandel continued. “I don’t like it, because it’s a warning, because if you tell someone you’re 70 years old, they’ll say, ‘You’re amazing –‘”
At this point, Ripa interjected and assured Mandel that the hosts were “not saying you’re great at 70. In fact, we’re saying you’re great, but we don’t believe you’re 70.”
But Mandel still wasn’t buying it. He made the point that the couple was saying exactly that “without saying 70.”
“No, no. It’s like saying you’re smart even though you’re stupid,” he explained, drawing laughter from the audience. “They’re like, ‘Oh, you look smart, you look smart,’ and, you know, no, I’m not good-looking.”
Consuelos, who has never been shy about expressing her good looks on talk shows, made another attempt to defuse the situation, telling Mandel that she was “good looking.”
In the end, the comedian deflated a tense moment by teasingly agreeing that he was “gorgeous” and revealed his “ridiculous” workout routine that has delivered results.
“Your friend, (TV host) Jerry O’Connell, put me through the most ridiculous training of my life,” Mandel said.
“When I swim, I tie a cable around my ankle and attach it to something by the pool.”
“Then he gave me these frying pan paddles and I swam for an hour with them and didn’t get anywhere,” he shared, noting that he was “so hooked.”
