Sherri Shepherd was on The Kelly Clarkson show in person recently. I wish shows would stop having in-person guests entirely until everyone gets the vaccine, but that’s a sidenote. They’re socially distanced but not wearing masks and Kelly’s show had an outbreak on set a few weeks ago! Covid is airborne and shows like this give the impression that we can just have our friends over if we sit on the opposite sides of the couch (I have thought of doing that so many times but I know better).
Sherri made me laugh out loud a few times. I know she said some questionable things years ago on The View. The more I pay attention to Sherri the more I like her though. I really think she’s grown a lot as a person and come onto her own. Sherri thinks so too. She told Kelly that it’s awesome being 50 and that she feels like she’s able to do everything that she wants to. Plus she talked about how much she loves dancing. When I first watched this show I thought Sherri just turned 50. Google has her at 53 though so she’s probably talking about the state of being in her 50s.
How she celebrated her birthday
I had a big Zoom party and we played drinking games and just had a good time.I loved the quote from Oprah about being 50. She said 50s is the best year because it is everything you are meant to be and it is everything you are going to be. This is it. And I love that quote. [Ed note: they showed that quote on screen and it was said by Maya Angelou to Oprah Winfrey, “The fifties are everything you’ve been meaning to be.”]
Sometimes you get this age and people want to forget about you. They don’t see you anymore. 50 is everything you want it to be. Whatever you dream of. This is the time to do it. This is the time to go for it, you now.
I’d love to direct a project. I’m working on a film right about about being in your 50s. Kind of a ‘Girls’ Trip’ in your 50s.
On how much she loves dancing
I love to dance. I dance by my pool, I dance in my heels. I wanted to be a backup dancer for Beyonce or Janet Jackson. Anytime I can dance [I do]. It brings up these endorphins. You feel sexy. I’m about to get a pole in my house. I’m waiting for Amazon to deliver that baby.
[From The Kelly Clarkson show on YouTube]
Sherri might feel that way also because she’s a single mom and her son, Jeffrey, is fifteen now. There’s this sense of freedom once your kid starts getting independent like you can do anything you want with your life now. I’m close to 50 and I sort-of agree that it feels like the world is opening up to me, or at least it will once it’s safe again. I like how she’s embracing the possibilities for herself and she sounds really excited about it.
Like Sherri I also love dancing! It’s my favorite form of exercise. Early in the pandemic I took exotic dance classes over Zoom. They made me so happy, mostly watching the women teaching the classes because they were sexy as hell. (That studio stopped going virtual unfortunately.) I did think of putting a pole in my house like Sherri. Everything was backordered so I didn’t bother. I would probably have that pole by now if I had ordered one.
Here’s that interview:
Photos credit: Lara Solanki/Netflix for Mr. Iglesias and via Instagram
I love her on Mr Inglesias…
I love her energy and optimism and her sentiment. I felt good about turning 50 and my kids both went away to college soon after so it really did feel like I was reclaiming my time and my life. I decided to try a new sport and learned to row. I even joined a team and I’d say my biggest accomplishment was getting placed on a boat with veteran rowers pretty soon after I started and we beat a college team in a scrimmage, lol. Sigh.
I only had a year before the pandemic brought my kids home again, lol, but I still feel different than when they were home full time. I also feel a new energy towards working. My boss recently commented on how refreshing my “dedication” was, and I know she meant that I didn’t have as any distractions as some of the other people on my team. She has no idea that I was a much more distracted employee when my kids were young. Now work can be my sole focus like it hasn’t been in a long time.
Being in my early 50s is great! In the past year, I quit drinking, started jogging and went from dark brown hair to blonde. I have the courage, self-knowledge, and, luckily, the resources to be who I want to be!
Isn’t she the lady who married some con man, who bullied/convinced her to use a surrogate to have a child, then she wised up before the baby was born, and the guy wanted to take full custody and basically bleed her bank accounts dry “for the baby” for the rest of her life?
Just love her.