Howie Mandel's Drugs Nightmare Laid Bare — With 'America's Got Talent' Judge Confessing He's Now 'Dead Inside' From Relentless Pill Popping
Howie Mandel opened up about his constant need to take medication.
March 14 2025, Published 3:00 p.m. ET
Howie Mandel has opened up about his comic "facade" in his most raw interview to date.
In a brutally honest revelation, the America’s Got Talent judge admitted how constant medication has drained him emotionally, making him feel "numb" and "dead inside"— but said he relies on it to stay alive, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The comedian said he wouldn't be able to do certain tasks without being medicated.
While recently appearing on the The Magnificent Others podcast, host Billy Corgan noted how Mandel, 69, has generally been conceived as a "positive comedian" throughout his career.
Mandel responded: "No, I don't think I'm positive. To be totally honest with you now, I am so medicated that I'm numb. I am."
The 'AGT' judge admitted he was worried popping pills would affect his ability to be artistic.
Corgan joked back: "We'll have you back without the meds, we'll see how that goes."
However, Mandel came back with a more serious answer – saying he is heavily reliant on drugs to get through the day.
He said: "I don't know that I could make it back without the meds. I need the meds.
"I don't feel pain, I don't feel fear, I'm kind-of dead inside. I am. My family complains about it."
While the host told Mandel he seemed "lovely" to him, Mandel replied: "I'm lovely, but i'm a lovely, soulless, dead person.
"I'm pharmaceutically numbed so that I don't go all over the place."
Mandel further admitted doctors are "always upping and lowering" his meds to find the right balance.
Corgan then talked about the chemical process of converting trauma and pain into art, calling it a "Willy Wonka" machine that "goes on inside."
But Mandel admitted, for him, it has been "either survive or take medication."
The former Deal or No Deal host continued: "I was so afraid that I wouldn't have the art. I don't know if it's affected my artistic endeavors, I don't know. But I hope it hasn't."
Ending the discussion, Mandel – in typical fashion – joked he thinks he's "doing okay" since he is still able to "pay the rent."
Elsewhere in the interview, Mandel opened up about his mental health – saying he often feels "out of control."
The comedian has previously been open about his struggles with OCD and ADHD, along with having "intrusive thoughts and compulsions" since childhood.
He told the host: "The truth of the matter is, and I feel not that I'm, and it is my soapbox mental health.
Mandel has been open about his personal struggles with OCD and ADHD.
"I think at any given point in any human being's life, whether they have a diagnosable issue or not, you're going to have a hard time functioning and you're going to need outside help and a coping skill and whether that's going to be the end of a relationship, a death diagnosis of.
"So I realized that I cope with all those things as a human being, living as long as I have lived along with when nothing is going on, what's going on in my head."
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Mandel added: "For me, and I think for most people, I constantly don't feel in control of whatever, whether it's the environment, whatever's happening."
He further admitted how he works obsessively to control his environment because he is hyper-aware of how little control people actually have in life.
The funnyman said he feels most in control during his stand-up shows.
Mandel said his fear of unpredictability has driven him to create a work setting where he feels secure, such as having his own studio and keeping his family involved.
Mandel further emphasized how stand-up comedy has been where he feels the most in control – unlike his roles on America’s Got Talent or Deal or No Deal – because on stage, he alone can dictate what happens.
