America’s Got Talent star Howie Mandel has confused fans with his latest snap on Instagram. The TV star, who often shares selfies with his fans on the social media platform, posted a photo of himself wearing his trademark white-rimmed sunglasses - but with another unusual accessory… 

In the post, Howie donned a white headband with panda bear ears, and simply captioned the post: “@seeeyewear #accessories.” 

His fans were somewhat bemused with his new look, with one writing: “Howie care to give us context?” Another person wrote: “Is there a particular look you’re trying to go for here?” A third joked: “Hey there bear hair.” 

The star recently wowed fans after donning a long, brunette hairpiece in a series of snaps, and fans were loving his new look - which was quite the change from his usual bald head! Howie, 67, previously spoke about his baldness on ABC’s 20/20, explaining: “This [baldness] feels so streamlined and so clean.” 

The star struggles with OCD, particularly mysophobia which is a struggle with germs. Speaking to People magazine back in 2021, he explained: “ "I was always incredibly obsessed with germs and cleaning and taking shower after shower after shower. Even when I was very young, I wouldn't tie my shoelaces because they had touched the ground. I had continuous repetitive thoughts that I couldn't get past. As a child, my mind was a lot busier than I was."

He added: “There isn't a waking moment of my life when 'we could die' doesn't come into my psyche. But the solace I would get would be the fact that everybody around me was okay. It's good to latch onto okay. But [during the pandemic] the whole world was not okay. And it was absolute hell… my life's mission is to remove the stigma [of mental illness]. I'm broken. But this is my reality. I know there's going to be darkness again -- and I cherish every moment of light."

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Howie has also been vocal about passing down his mental health difficulties to his daughter Jackie, who also struggles with OCD. He said: "I'm not proud of that gift I've given her. But our coping skills are to find the light." 

Speaking about how the pandemic made her symptoms worse, Jackie added: “It was really, really hard. My anxiety sometimes leads to depression. I went through the extreme and I just locked myself in… I’ve been isolated and scared for a year and a half and now that things are starting to open back up, I'm really not at the same place that most people are. I'm working with a therapist to get back out into the world."

Jackie is also full of praise for her father and how he handles his mental health, explaining: "My dad is very open about going to therapy and erasing the stigma. Whenever I was upset or sad or having a bad day, I knew I could reach out.” 

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