Howie Mandel won’t deal with false flattery.
After congratulating the America’s Got Talent judge on turning 70, Kelly Ripa caught some flak for saying “it doesn’t make any sense” how gracefully he’s aging.
As Howie said on the March 24 episode of Live With Kelly and Mark, “What do you mean it doesn’t make any sense?”
Clarifying Kelly’s point, her cohost Mark Consuelos added, “You look great.”
But the Deal or No Deal host didn’t take the couple’s praise as a compliment necessarily.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Howie said before interjecting with a pointed finger, “No, no, no. I don’t like that because that’s a caveat because you tell someone you’re 70, and they go, ‘you look great—’”
In an attempt to get the compliment to resonate, Kelly chimed in, “We’re not saying you look great for 70.”
Howie passionately interjected, “Yes you are without saying ’70,’” before Kelly continued, “No, we’re saying you look great and I don’t believe you’re 70.”
Meanwhile, Mark stood ten toes down on the statement, saying over the pair, “I am saying that.”
But the Here’s the Deal: Don’t Touch Me author insisted the flattery was backhanded.
