America’s Got Talent Judge Howie Mandel Explains What Happened When He Passed Out At Starbucks

howie mandel america's got talent season 16 nbc
(Image credit: NBC)

America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel had to deal with a very scary situation yesterday, when he suddenly passed out while at a Los Angeles-area Starbucks with his wife and friends. While the comedian, actor, and host has been known to have some issues with his mental health, this was a shocking turn for him, and his fans were understandably concerned. Well, Mandel has now explained what happened when he passed out.

Anyone who’s enjoyed Howie Mandel’s comedy, or seen him in interviews for the past several decades of his career, will know that he’s been living with obsessive-compulsive disorder, along with mysophobia (a fear of germs), and ADHD, for many years. But, he’s now taken to Twitter to open up about what led to him passing out while at the popular coffee shop earlier in the week, and told his followers:

I am home and doing better. I was dehydrated and had low blood sugar. I appreciate the great doctors and nurses that took such good care of me. Thank you to everyone who reached out but I am doing ok!

As noted before, Mandel hasn’t been known to have any health problems that would have led to him passing out, and he’s made millions of fans through his work since the early 1980s, so it makes sense that once people heard what happened to him, they would have posted a lot of well-wishes for him, and it’s good to see that he’s thanked everyone for their concern.

Mandel was right outside of his local Starbucks when he fell over without any warning, and then had to find his way to one of the cement benches outside so that he could lie down. By the time paramedics arrived, he was able to sit up, but they still took him to the nearest hospital for tests afterward. 

There’s never a good time for such a thing to happen, but I can imagine that it’s particularly scary to collapse when you’d previously been feeling fine, not to mention when you’re hanging out and enjoying time with family and friends in public. Luckily, the funny man (who’s also known for hosting the game show Deal or No Deal, creating and voicing the lead character on the animated show Bobby’s World, and starring on the hit medical drama St. Elsewhere, among his many accomplishments) was able to post his update for fans while already feeling much more like himself. 

Apparently, a combination of low blood sugar and dehydration is what led to the incident, so hopefully the medical professionals who took care of Mandel were able to offer some tips so that he could avoid such a worrisome situation again. 

America’s Got Talent wrapped for the season several weeks ago, but Howie Mandel is expected to be back for Season 17. In the meantime, be sure to see what you can watch right now with our 2021 fall TV schedule.

Adrienne Jones
Senior Content Creator

Covering The Witcher, Outlander, Virgin River, Sweet Magnolias and a slew of other streaming shows, Adrienne Jones is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend, and started in the fall of 2015. In addition to writing and editing stories on a variety of different topics, she also spends her work days trying to find new ways to write about the many romantic entanglements that fictional characters find themselves in on TV shows. She graduated from Mizzou with a degree in Photojournalism.