{"id":2190589,"date":"2025-12-08T03:23:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T03:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2190589"},"modified":"2025-12-08T03:23:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T03:23:39","slug":"rejected-americas-got-talent-singer-has-spicy-revenge-message-for-howie-mandel-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/rejected-americas-got-talent-singer-has-spicy-revenge-message-for-howie-mandel-exclusive\/","title":{"rendered":"Rejected &#8216;America&#8217;s Got Talent&#8217; singer has spicy revenge message for Howie Mandel (exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Key Points<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"mb-4\">\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">New <em>RuPaul&#8217;s Drag Race<\/em> season 18 star Athena Dion previously auditioned for <em>America&#8217;s Got Talent<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After her glow-up, Athena reacts to Howie Mandel rejecting her &#8220;Spice Gurlz&#8221; audition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;America sure does have talent, and here it is!&#8221; Athena tells <em>Entertainment Weekly<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Before she was a drag superstar, an industry legend, and a contestant on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/rupauls-drag-race\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:RuPaul's Drag Race;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>RuPaul&#8217;s Drag Race<\/em><\/a> season 18, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/rupauls-drag-race-season-18-cast-revealed-11859165\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Athena Dion;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Athena Dion<\/a> was just a Spice Girl \u2014 uh, one of the Spice <em>Gurlz <\/em>\u2014 a singing group that auditioned for <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/simon-cowell\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Simon Cowell;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Simon Cowell<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/howie-mandel\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Howie Mandel;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Howie Mandel<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/heidi-klum\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Heidi Klum;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Heidi Klum<\/a>, and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/mel-b\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Scary Spice herself;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Scary Spice herself<\/a> on <em><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/americas-got-talent\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:America's Got Talent;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">America&#8217;s Got Talent<\/a> <\/em>in 2016.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">On season 11 of the talent competition show, Athena and four other friends took the <em>AGT<\/em> stage as the Spice Gurlz, a drag-ified singing group also comprised of Sasha Lords, Nicole Halliwell, Calypso Monroe, and Nicole Saphire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The group performed a rendition of &#8220;Spice Up Your Life&#8221; for the judges, with Mel B and Cowell giving their stamp of approval \u2014 though Klum and Mandel gave the girls a big, red X and blocked them from advancing past the audition rounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Now, as she prepares to take the world by storm on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/rupauls-drag-race-season-18-cast-revealed-11859165\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Drag Race season 18;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>Drag Race<\/em> season 18<\/a>, the drag mother of season 16 star <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/morphine-love-dion-8620621\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Morphine Love Dion;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Morphine Love Dion<\/a> has a special message for Mandel, as part of the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/rupauls-drag-race-season-18-cast-interviews-exclusive-11860656\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:new cast's exclusive round of interviews with Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">new cast&#8217;s exclusive round of interviews with<em> Entertainment Weekly<\/em><\/a>: &#8220;Well, look at me now, hoe, honey! America sure does have talent, and here it is!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Athena, who regularly performs in Miami and Mykonos, Greece, looks back on the moment as a comical misstep, but still celebrates that &#8220;Simon gave me a yes&#8221; after the group &#8220;buttered him up&#8221; in the process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We sang live, not well,&#8221; Athena says with a laugh, and also celebrates the fact that Mel B, a real Spice Girl, approved of their performance.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div style=\"max-height:none;overflow:visible\">\n<p>NBC; MTV<\/p>\n<p> Athena Dion on &#8216;America&#8217;s Got Talent&#8217; ; Athena on &#8216;RuPaul&#8217;s Drag Race&#8217; season 18<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">To be fair, though, she says, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think I would&#8217;ve given us the yes either. Looking back, I would&#8217;ve been like, that was terrible. I want it to be erased from the internet!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I mean, obviously I enjoyed it. Yeah, why the bloody hell did you buzz at the Spice Girls?&#8221; Mel B asked Mandel during the deliberations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I liked the performance and everything, it was just the track,&#8221; Mandel jabbed back at Mel B, who playfully slapped him on the arm over the quip.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Cowell then asked the group to sing a song acapella, and the group chose &#8220;Say You&#8217;ll Be There,&#8221; with the audience booing the interpretation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Can I be honest? In my opinion, that was better than the original,&#8221; Cowell joked. &#8220;Seriously, this is what the girls could&#8217;ve been like if they could sing. It&#8217;s amazing. After that, I&#8217;m going to say yes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After Cowell changed his vote to yes, Klum changed hers to no, with Mel B also choosing to advance the group.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"MTV 'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 18 cast of queens\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/RygnvJpPn4QF5upc1FRZRQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/entertainment_weekly_785\/365e7e5c6d7f8849142fad100a19d86a\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div style=\"max-height:none;overflow:visible\">\n<p>MTV<\/p>\n<p> &#8216;RuPaul&#8217;s Drag Race&#8217; season 18 cast of queens<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The final vote came down to Mandel, who said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know. I&#8217;m sorry, it&#8217;s a no. Sorry,&#8221; as the group walked off the stage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Since her time on <em>AGT<\/em>, Athena has blossomed into a respected and successful drag artist, with her work even courting the attention of <em><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/the-view\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The View;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">The View<\/a> <\/em>cohosts Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin, who welcomed her as a guest to the show in 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong><em>Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/ew-dispatch-newsletter-11812417\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:EW Dispatch newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">EW Dispatch newsletter<\/a><\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Additionally, Athena will compete against her own drag legacy on season 18, as her drag granddaughter, Juicy Love Dion, is on the cast, too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;This show does expose you for who you are, whether you like it or not. You see a lot of my personality,&#8221; Athena previews of her run on the show. &#8220;There are some spirals, there\u2019s some\u00a0<em>rawr<\/em>, there\u2019s some mothering, there\u2019s me!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>RuPaul&#8217;s Drag Race<\/em> season 18 debuts Friday, Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. ET\/PT on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/entity\/mtv\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:MTV;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">MTV<\/a>. Watch Athena and the rest of the new cast preview the new season in EW&#8217;s YouTube interviews with the cast above.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/rejected-americas-got-talent-singer-revenge-message-howie-mandel-elimination-exclusive-11861870\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Points New RuPaul&#8217;s Drag Race season 18 star Athena Dion previously auditioned for America&#8217;s Got Talent. After her glow-up, Athena reacts to Howie Mandel rejecting her &#8220;Spice Gurlz&#8221; audition. &#8220;America sure does have talent, and here it is!&#8221; Athena tells Entertainment Weekly. Before she was a drag superstar, an industry legend, and a contestant [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2190590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[422814,352321,422815,352451,345342,306940,422818,422816,422817,23185],"class_list":["post-2190589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-america39s-got-talent","tag-athena","tag-athena-dion","tag-drag-race","tag-heidi-klum","tag-howie-mandel","tag-mtv-athena-dion","tag-rupaul39s-drag-race","tag-scary-spice","tag-simon-cowell"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Rejected-Americas-Got-Talent-singer-has-spicy-revenge-message-for.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2190589"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2190591,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190589\/revisions\/2190591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2190590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2190589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2190589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2190589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}