Howie Mandel says his grandson Axel is in remission after a grueling fight with leukemia.
Speaking at the 39th Annual Footwear News Achievement Awards on December 3, the America’s Got Talent judge gave a personal update about the nine-year-old’s condition. “He’s in remission. He’s doing really good,” Mandel, who has been urged to ‘leave’ AGT, told Hello!.
The 70-year-old television personality has been open with his fans about his own health struggles, including managing Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, ADHD, and Atrial Fibrillation. The Toronto native shares three adult children with his wife, Terry Mandel, and three grandchildren, including Axel.
“It’s a long, hard-fought journey, and it’s heartbreaking to deal with a family member and a baby who goes through such a battle, but I feel like we’re on the other side of it. I hope so too,” he said.
Mandel said the family is now looking forward to a quiet holiday season together.
“Well, that’s the thing, I’m going to go on a trip with my family,” he said.
“I’m going to go away with my family because I find [that] personally, if I go away with somebody else’s family, it’s just awkward and uncomfortable because I don’t know them, and they don’t know me, and we have different likes and dislikes, so I’m going to spend it with my family.”
Axel’s condition became public in September 2025, when Mandel and his daughter, Jackelyn Shultz, shared the news on the In Depth with Graham Bensinger podcast.
Jackelyn recalled how Axel was first taken to the hospital during a family trip to Hawaii.
She thought he had the flu. Doctors later diagnosed him with leukemia.
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Mandel said Axel had an autoimmune complication that made his case different.
Treatment included a bone marrow transplant, which came from Axel’s 11-year-old sister, Abbey. Mandel praised the Children’s Hospital for helping the family through the ordeal.
Before the family went public, few listeners of the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast knew what was happening. Howie and Jackelyn often wore masks when guests had colds, which drew attention.
Viewers speculated, unaware of Axel’s health battle.
Jackelyn spoke about the reaction she received online during that time. “I got such hate in vitriol they thought it was because I didn’t agree with their politics or whatever,” she said on the podcast.
“And I was just, in my mind, I’m like, ‘They have no idea what I’m going through right now. They have no idea that I’m just trying to be able to go visit my son in the hospital.'”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.the-express.com ’
