Sofía Vergara calls out Jimmy Fallon for mispronouncing her name

A word of warning to late-night hosts: Make sure you know how to pronounce Sofía Vergara’s name properly, or you risk getting busted on national television.

That’s exactly what happened on Monday’s episode of The Tonight Show, when the Modern Family alum and America’s Got Talent judge playfully blasted host Jimmy Fallon for mispronouncing her name while cutting to a clip toward the end of their interview. 

“I want to show everyone a clip: Here’s Sofía Vergara in…,” Fallon began, when Vergara suddenly interjected, “You don’t even know how to say my name still.” 

The actress kept her cool as she casually dragged Fallon for the blunder. 

“Like, you were saying that people are having trouble [pronouncing words]. You’re the one having problems with words,” Vergara told the host as the audience laughed. “How many years I’ve been coming here? And you keep saying my name wrong.”

Fallon gamely attempted to recover, explaining that he was just trying to put a fun new spin on her name. “Usually I say Sofía Vergara,” he said, “but I changed it tonight to Sofía Ver-garrre-ah.”

Vergara laughed and replied, “Sexy.” 

Fallon went back to roll the footage. “I want to show a clip: Here’s Sofía Ver-garrr-ah in season 20 of Amerrrrrrrrica’s Got Talent,” he said, making a concerted effort to roll his R’s as hard as humanly possible. “Take a look.”

Vergara’s scolding served as a little sprinkle of payback for the Colombia-born actress after she had to deal with Fallon poking fun at the way she pronounces the word “ukulele” earlier in their interview. 

“I hate the you-you-kah-ling-le-ley,” Vergara confessed, stumbling her way through the pronunciation.

“The what?” Fallon teased. “You can’t even say it! Say it again?”

Vergara managed to nail the American pronunciation of the instrument on the second try, but still appeared embarrassed by the situation as she covered the side of her face with her hand. 

When asked why she hates to see a ukulele pop up during an AGT audition, Vergara replied, “What is the ukulele? It’s like a little guitar, but it’s not big. It’s not little, it’s not… It’s nothing. It’s… what is it?”

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Thankfully, she noted that she hasn’t had to sit through any ukulele auditions in a long time. “I’ve just been lucky,” Vergara mused. “Maybe it’s not popular anymore. Thank God.”