Howie Mandel ‘Kinda’ Regrets Apologizing to Kelly Ripa After Awkward Interview

Howie Mandel has admitted that he has mixed feelings about apologizing to Kelly Ripa after their awkward interview on Live with Kelly and Mark.

“If somebody is offended [or] if somebody feels that I did wrong, then I apologize,” Mandel said on the Tuesday, March 31, episode of the “Hot Mics with Billy Bush” podcast. “I don’t believe in apologizing but, as I said in my post, which I kinda regret making the post, I don’t think you should apologize for a joke.”

The drama started on March 23 while Mandel was being interviewed by Ripa, 55, and her husband, Mark Consuelos, on Live. Ripa pointed out that Mandel recently celebrated his 70th birthday, before joking that his age “doesn’t make any sense.”

When Consuelos interjected that Mandel looked “great,” the comedian shot back, “I [do] look great. That doesn’t mean anything to me.”

The America’s Got Talent judge complained that he doesn’t like people commenting on his age because it always comes as “a caveat.”

“B​​ecause you tell someone you’re 70 and they go, ‘You look great,” he added.

Ripa tried to clarify that she wasn’t trying to say Mandel looked “great for 70,” before he interrupted again to declare, “It’s like saying you’re smart for a stupid person. ‘Oh, you look smart! You seem smart!’ I don’t look good.”

Mandel added later in the conversation, “Well, actually, before we go out, there’s, like, a mirror back there. … Honestly, now, I’ll be serious for a minute: I’m gorgeous. I am. I am.”

“You’re a thing of beauty,” Ripa quipped.