The two have been at the judging panel together since season 11 of ‘America’s Got Talent
Howie Mandel has nothing but respect and admiration for fellow America’s Got Talent judge Simon Cowell.
The former Deal or No Deal host, 69, revealed what he tells Cowell after every golden buzzer on AGT while speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the opening of Universal Orlando Resorts’ Universal Epic Universe in Orlando, Fla., on Wednesday, May 21.
“Every time somebody gets a golden buzzer or somebody wins something or somebody gets an opportunity and you see them fall to their knees and cry and their family joins them on stage and you know their life is never going to be the same, I run over to his seat behind him,” he said.
He continued, “And I go, ‘You did this, buddy. You came up with an idea. A lot of us come up with ideas and we want to do TV shows and we want to entertain and we want to get a laugh, but your idea is changing more lives than any one idea on television.’ “
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The duo know this perhaps better than anyone as they both gave out a Golden Buzzer on the May 27 premiere, with Mandel giving his to singer Jourdan Blue and Cowell using his on immersive art group Light Wire.
Mandel first joined AGT as a judge in season 5, and Cowell — who created AGT — came aboard as a judge in season 11.
Now, with the show marking its milestone 20th season, Mandel teased that fans are in store for something “bigger, better, more exciting, scarier, more emotional, funnier, more dangerous than it has ever been.”
“I think that each season kind of raises the bar just by people being inspired by what they saw the season before,” he explained. “But, then again, being a 20th anniversary, people are very celebratory. They know it’s a special year and they’re doing special things.”
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Mandel and Cowell are joined at the judges’ table this season by Modern Family alum Sofía Vergara and Spice Girls singer Mel B. Terry Crews is also back for a seventh season as host of AGT.
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America’s Got Talent season 20 airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.