Howie Mandel and his daughter, Jackelyn Shultz, are speaking candidly for the first time about their family’s private battle with childhood cancer.
During an appearance on In Depth with Graham Bensinger on Wednesday, Sept. 17, the pair revealed that Jackelyn’s 9-year-old son, Axel, had been diagnosed with leukemia and is now in remission.
Mandel, 69, explained that Axel’s case was especially difficult because he also has an autoimmune condition, which made the diagnosis and treatment even more complex.
The America’s Got Talent judge noted that this is the first time their family has publicly shared Axel’s health journey.
Shultz, 39, recalled how she faced criticism when she wore a mask during recordings of their podcast, Howie Mandel Does Stuff.
She explained that people misunderstood her reasons and assumed it was about politics, when in reality it was to keep herself and Axel safe during his treatment.
“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,’ ” she said.
Mandel shared that Axel has made progress, though his recovery has been far from simple.
“But he had to have a bone marrow transplant from his sister,” he revealed as Shultz became emotional.
She admitted that coping has been difficult, saying she often tries to “not think of it and move on,” but described the experience as the lowest point of her life.
Her father comforted her, reflecting on the pain of watching a child suffer.
“You go home and look at your baby and imagine somebody telling you that something horrible is wrong. That’s really, really tough,” Mandel said.
While Axel is in remission, Mandel explained that the challenges are ongoing, as his grandson “doesn’t have an immune system yet, so he can’t go to school.”
Shultz added that treatment involves more than just beating the cancer itself.
“I don’t think people realize that there’s so much that goes into treatment that it’s not just the cancer alone, but it’s also the treatment afterwards and the follow-up. And it’s a really, really, really long, hard road,” she said.
Still, she expressed gratitude that Axel is currently “happy and doing well,” even as the family continues to face “the bumps and the hurdles that go along with the diagnosis and the transplant.”
Shultz shares Axel and her 11-year-old daughter, Abbey, with husband Alex Shultz.
Mandel is also a father to son Alex, 33, and daughter Riley, 31, who welcomed a baby girl named Noa in March 2024, making him a grandfather of three.
Earlier that year, Mandel had joked on The Jennifer Hudson Show that grandchildren are “so good and this much fun, I would’ve done that first.”
