Howie Mandel apologizes for bulimia joke

Howie Mandel is doing some quick backpedaling.

The America's Got Talent judge is apologizing after a joke he made during Tuesday's live telecast didn't quite land with the audience.

When contestant Stevie Starr, who is a "professional reguritator," meaning he swallows random objects whole and brings them back up in one piece, was being critiqued, Mandel praised him in a slightly off-putting way, as reported by E!

Admitting that his comment would "probably come out wrong," Mandel said, "You, sir, make bulimia entertaining."

A few acts later Mandel apologized on air.

"I just wanna take a second just to apologize. I made a comment earlier, it's live television, I wasn't thinking. I made light of bulimia, which is a very serious eating disorder and mental health issue. I deal with mental health all the time, and I did something stupid. I should never make light of it. I apologize to anybody that was offended. I'm not perfect, I make mistakes."

Mandel continued his apology on Twitter: