Water under the bridge! Andy Cohen revealed that he and Howie Mandel have exchanged messages since the latter’s bombshell Tom Sandoval interview — and everything is copacetic again.
“Guess who DMed me?” the Bravo exec, 55, teased during the Monday, June 5, of his radio show Andy Cohen Live on SiriusXM. “Someone that I was in a feud with.”
When his cohost and friend John Hill failed to correctly guess, Cohen revealed that the comedian, 67, recently reached out to him via social media. “Howie Mandel DM’d me over the break,” the Superficial author recalled. “He DM’d me and said, ‘You’re making amazing TV. I was honored to be your jackhole.’ I loved that and I DM’d him back and I said, ‘Howie, being in a feud with you — feud in quotes — was my honor,’ with a bunch of hearts. So, I feel like Howie and I, we’re back.”
Earlier this year, the former Deal or No Deal host invited Sandoval, 40, on his podcast to discuss the aftermath of the reality star’s affair with Raquel Leviss, which led to his split from longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix. Many Bravo fans were surprised by Sandoval’s choice of outlet, especially after Mandel admitted that he didn’t know much about Vanderpump Rules. After the podcast debuted, Cohen called out the America’s Got Talent judge for not doing more prep.
“Tonight’s Jackhole [of the Day] goes to the fact that Howie Mandel apparently didn’t know what he was getting himself into with his interview of Tom Sandoval today,” the producer said during an April episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “Because it seems like maybe he didn’t do his homework?”
In response, Mandel told Extra that he didn’t “need to do homework” because he knew who Sandoval was. “I wasn’t gonna weaponize his information and kind of, you know, challenge him on each thing,” the Canada native added.
Mandel’s disinclination to push back on Sandoval’s comments led to some criticism of the interview, but the Monk alum said last month he doesn’t regret his approach.
“I would not do anything differently,” Mandel said during a May interview on Nick Viall‘s “The Viall Files” podcast before explaining the backstory of Sandoval’s sit-down. “As people have found out, one of the people who works for me is married to his road manager. … I [was] not going to put him in an uncomfortable position. I told him, ‘You want to speak, come on and talk.’ My point is — and the reason I wanted to [have him on the show] — that I still don’t understand [the outrage around Scandoval].”
During the interview, the Pump Rules star claimed that he tried to break up with Madix, 37, multiple times before she found out about his affair with their costar Leviss, 28. “Obviously, she was very upset. She freaking punched me and all this s–t,” Sandoval alleged, claiming that his Fancy AF Cocktails coauthor refused to accept the split. “A couple days later, I sit down and talk with her again, and she’s like, ‘I’m not letting you leave me. You’re gonna have to force me out of this relationship.’ I was like, ‘Ariana, I don’t think I could be faithful in a relationship with you right now.’ I hadn’t told her about Raquel yet. She’s like, ‘If you break up with me, you will effectively be ending my life.’”
Madix, however, denied this version of events during the Pump Rules season 10 reunion last month, claiming that her ex-boyfriend actually didn’t try to call it quits before his affair with Leviss was revealed. Sandoval, meanwhile, claimed during the extended version of part 2 that he originally planned to tell Madix after season 10 wrapped production.
“I actually had a therapy session and we basically planned on that following Tuesday because we were to fully wrap filming and interviews so she wouldn’t have to [say in] the interviews, ‘Oh, like, we’re here for the sandwich shop’ and talk about that when this had just been told to her,” the TomTom co-owner said.
