During the second half of the Tuesday, June 14 America's Got Talent episode, longtime judge Howie Mandel was not present for the auditions that were aired, and it's time to explain why. Since he was absent, only Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, and Heidi Klum were on the judging panel. Two "yes" votes meant that the act would go through, while three red buzzers would end the act immediately. So, why was Howie missing from the live shows?

When Terry Crews announced that Howie was not going to be on the judging panel, the only explanation given was that Howie was feeling sick and would not be able to make it to the taping. However, fans noticed earlier that he was missing, as they saw an audition clip that was posted on Twitter. They wondered if a guest judge would be taking his place on the panel until he returned. Now, Howie is finally breaking his silence about why he wasn't at a few of those America's Got Talent auditions.

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According to Talent Recap, Howie actually missed some of the auditions because he tested positive for Covid-19. Howie stated that he contracted the virus during the Kids Choice Awards in April, when AGT won the award in the reality show category. However, the number of auditions he would be missing from, or when he would return, was initially unclear.

Due to AGT more than likely airing the auditions out of order, it is unclear how many tapings Howie actually missed. Some fans began wondering if a guest judge would be taking his place, as that had happened before. However, it seems like Howie was missing from the later auditions, as according to the above mentioned article, AGT tapings began on April 1, and the Kids Choice Awards was held on April 9. Therefore, it's possible that Howie only missed a small portion of the AGT auditions. A guest judge may not take his place on the judging panel.

Even though Howie wasn't featured on certain America's Got Talent audition episodes, that won't stop the production crew from taping the show. If the series is trying to keep their typical schedule of airing episodes from the end of May until the middle of September, then stopping the tapings would most likely have caused AGT to run longer than anticipated. However, fans don't have to worry, as Howie was seen during the Tuesday, June 21, episode, and seemed to jump right back into judging.

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America's Got Talent airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.