Hypnotist breaks judge Howie Mandel's OCD on 'America's Got Talent'

NEW YORK, May 27 (UPI) -- Howie Mandel doesn't shake hands, at least he thought so before professional hypnotist Chris Jones got ahold of him.

The America's Got Talent judge, a known germaphobe with obsessive compulsive disorder, was hypnotized by 28-year-old Jones to believe shaking hands was OK. The contestant -- who closely resembled Drake -- then performed a special procedure, (that couldn't be shown on television lest the entire remote audience became affected), that made Mendel noticeably powerless against Jones.

After a slow climb to the climax of the act -- which judge Howard Stern noted with a buzz -- Jones told Mandel he was wearing gloves and invited Mandel to shake his hand. When it happened, the audience roared with disbelief. Jones went further and convinced Mandel that all his fellow judges were wearing hair-thin gloves safe to touch, and he shook hands with them, too.

When he learned of the trick, Mandel said, "Are you serious? Are you [expletive] kidding me?" His fellow judges were blown away -- but he himself felt "taken advantage of" at the time.

Hypnotist Chris Jones tricks Howie Mendel into shaking hands despite his serious obsessive compulsive disorder and germophobia. Photo by America's Got Talent/YouTube

The host admitted to reporters after that day of shooting in April that he had to go to therapy following the surprising act. "I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on medication, and in five minutes on 'AGT,' this guy's got me touching everyone," Mandel said.

"I was disturbed, but it's kind of amazing to see that I survived it. And I have OCD, which is not a laughing matter, but it says something for the reality of how good hypnotism is and how good he was, and the breadth of the things that are happening," he continued. "You will see things this year you have never seen before."