Howie Mandel, the 70-year-old comedian and "America's Got Talent" judge, told listeners of his own podcast that he has paid for sexual services at massage parlors, while his wife of nearly five decades sat at home.
Mandel made the admission during an August 11 episode of "Howie Mandel Does Stuff," the podcast he cohosts with his daughter Jackelyn Shultz. The guest that day was digital creator Camilla Araujo, host of "The Clock It Podcast." What followed was an exchange that left Araujo visibly stunned and Shultz asking whether her mother would be upset.
Mandel married Terry Soil in 1980. The couple share three children, daughters Jackie and Riley, and son Alex. When Araujo pressed him on whether he was still in the marriage, Mandel did not flinch.
"Oh my God, wait, you're like actively married?"
That was Araujo's reaction, as USA TODAY reported. Mandel's answer was casual.
"Yeah, I've been married for like, 48 years."
Araujo asked again, "And you're sure you're actively married?", as though giving him a chance to walk it back. Mandel doubled down.
"Forty-eight years to her mother."
Shultz, sitting beside her father as cohost, added a quiet qualifier: "He was gone a lot."
Shultz then turned to Araujo and asked whether paying for such services would be considered cheating. Araujo's answer was one word: "yes."
Mandel volunteered the price. He said he pays "like $25 bucks" for the services. He offered no further detail about where or how often, and the source reporting does not include specifics on the nature of the services beyond what Mandel disclosed on air.
Shultz asked the obvious follow-up, "Would Mom be upset?", but the reporting does not include Mandel's direct answer. Terry Soil has not made any public statement in response to her husband's on-air admission.
The massage parlor confession was not the only jarring moment. During the same episode, the conversation turned heated, and Mandel called Shultz a profane name on air.
"Well, you weren't fun. You were a b****. You were a b****, sorry."
Mandel directed the remark at his daughter while describing her childhood behavior, which he characterized as "uncontrollable." Araujo told Mandel to stop.
Shultz appeared to take the comment in stride. She told listeners, "We get along now." But the exchange, a father calling his daughter that word on a public podcast, moments after admitting to paying for sexual services behind his wife's back, speaks for itself.
Mandel is 70 years old. He has been married since 1980. He sits on national television as a judge on one of the country's most-watched family entertainment programs. And he chose his own podcast, with his own daughter sitting next to him, to announce, without apparent shame, that he pays for sexual services while married.
No one forced the admission. No reporter dug it up. Mandel volunteered it, casually, for content.
Terry Soil has said nothing publicly. Whether she knew, consented, or was blindsided remains unanswered. Mandel reportedly told Shultz she could call her mother and ask, a deflection, not an explanation.
There is a word for treating a 48-year marriage, a wife's dignity, and a daughter's presence as raw material for a podcast segment. The word is not "entertainment."
