Sofia Vergara surprisingly departed the America’s Got Talent stage following fellow judge Howie Mandel’s latest remark involving her relationship status.
The 51-year-old Vergara, amid her divorce from actor Joe Manganiello, was seated on a throne constructed of giant fake tater tots on the recent episode of AGT since Sonic sponsors the show.
During this past Wednesday’s episode, Vergara had to take a lie detector test, which allowed Mandel to slip in another of his jokes about her being single. It came as the judges each asked Vergara a question for the lie detector to analyze.
One of her responses featured her saying “Yes” when Heidi Klum asked Vergara if fellow judge Simon Cowell was “just like a sweet little puppy dog.” However, that was registered as a lie when the results were given.
She also said that AGT was a preferable job for her compared to working on the sitcom Modern Family, which came back as true.
“Do you see anybody in the audience tonight that you’re interested in?” Mandel asked while she was still on stage.
Vergara abruptly walks off the AGT stage after Howie’s remark
Mandel’s remark brought about plenty of excited cheering from audience members and a surprised look from Vergara, but it appears she was okay with it. However, she wasn’t about to let the lie detector analyze a response for that.
“That’s it,” she said as she smiled, took off the lie detector cuff, and left the stage to return to her seat with the other judges.
“I think she’s done,” host Terry Crews said during the highlight moment shown in the video below.
Mandel previously joked about Sofia’s divorce situation with a young contestant after she’d finished her ventriloquism and mentalist act. As Monsters and Critics reported, the contestant had asked judge Heidi Klum for assistance with her act as she tried to find a match for her puppet from the audience.
During the post-performance comments from judges, Mandel took aim at Vergara with a joke, pretending it was a suggestion for the on-stage talent.
“If I have one word of advice…If you’re looking for eligible bachelors, you should’ve talked to Sofia because she’s in the market right now,” Mandel told the contestant.
Vergara was also okay with that, but Mandel later called it “open season” as far as him making jokes about her situation due to the online backlash he’d received from critics.
Vergara’s divorce started several months ago
Mandel’s remarks refer to Vergara being single after she and her husband, 46-year-old actor Joe Manganiello, filed for divorce in July. The couple had been married since 2015 after meeting the year before. They’d dated for just six months before getting engaged.
Before meeting Manganiello, Vergara was married back in 1991 to her high school boyfriend, Joe Gonzalez. They had one son together, Manolo, that same year. Two years later, Vergara and Gonzalez divorced.
It took over 20 years to find another man she wanted to marry. Along the way, she’d been engaged to Nick Loeb in 2012, but they called things off in 2014.
Now, Vergara is amid her second divorce. With Manganiello recently seen out and about with a young actress after a gym session, rumors have started swirling that he’s already dating someone new.
While the divorce is yet to be finalized, it seems Vergara’s friend Howie Mandel is trying to help her find love again, even if that help comes with jokes on TV.
America’s Got Talent airs Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.