America’s Got Talent judge, Howie Mandel, has been married for decades. However, he almost lost it all when his OCD got out of control. Keep reading to find out what’s going on and what almost ended his marriage.
Howie Mandel Has Been Happily Married
Howie Mandel, best known for being a judge on America’s Got Talent, has been married to his wife, Terry Mandel, for decades. The couple got married back in 1980. Since their marriage 46 years ago, they’ve shared three children, Jackelyn Shultz, Alex Mandel, and Riley Mandel, and they even have grandchildren.
Throughout their marriage, Howie has become more and more open about his struggle with OCD, especially germaphobia. Howie suffers from an intense fear of germs. Needless to say, that got much more intense during the pandemic. It got so intense, in fact, it almost ruined his relationship.
Relationship Ending OCD
According to MSN, the TV personality has several things he has to do for his OCD. This includes rituals for his germaphobia.
“Let’s just talk about the germ thing. It’s just one of many. I have rituals and things I can’t get away from. It’s become part of my persona and people make fun of it,” he says.
Things got so intense that he actually built a place in his backyard where he could go if he felt there were germs. He would even go in there for something as small as a kid sneezing.
“It’s not really a guest house. I built a place in our backyard, and if one of our kids sneezed, I lived there for a week. Great excuse: I’ve got to be on the road, I can’t go out there, I can’t get a cold. If I deemed something not sanitary, then I’d have them disinfect the phones,” Howie explains.
Of course, this is a lot for a family to handle. So, his wife ended up giving him an ultimatum. Basically, he had to get help if he wanted her around.
“Finally, my wife just went, ‘I can’t do this, this is really tiring, go talk to somebody,’” Howie says. “The ultimatum was, try to find some help, because I can’t do this anymore. She’s a hero because she put up with it and sent me to therapy.”
What’s He Doing For It?
Howie reveals that he does have help for his OCD, including from professionals and medication.
“I’m medicated and I have a lot of therapy. I have such a fear of those lows, because they’re incredibly painful and hard to navigate, so my life consists of trying to balance up here and manage the medication,” he says.
However, he has had issues with medication in the past. Apparently, he self-medicated during COVID and almost ended his life.
“I’ve medicated myself, and I’m talking about prescription medication. I’m not self-medicating, though I did that during COVID and I almost died. So, I’m medicated. I’m surrounded by professionals.”
Needless to say, this isn’t something to be messed with.
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Haley is a recent IU grad with a degree in journalism and apparel merchandising. She loves to indulge her guilty pleasures by watching or writing about reality TV. In her free time, you can find her wandering around IKEA looking for cool furniture or playing with her cat Bagel.