Sheryl Lee Ralph finally expressed how she feels about her longtime friend Sherri Shepherd having an “auntie crush” on her 31-year-old son, Etienne Maurice.
The “Abbott Elementary” star was the latest guest on Kelly Ripa’s SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa.” 16 minutes into the interview, Ralph gushed over her son’s recent engagement to his girlfriend and ABC News journalist Stephanie Wash. Not too long after, she was asked if Shepherd would “get over” her son becoming engaged to a woman who is not her.
Shepherd previously has voiced having a crush on Maurice during an episode of her daytime talk show, “Sherri.”
“It was so crazy how that all came about,” the Emmy winner explained. “I love Sherri, I mean I’ve known Sherri forever, and when she came out with this auntie crush on Etienne I was like ‘Girlfriend where is this coming from?’ ”
Ralph continued, “She said ‘Sheryl I told you that boy was gonna be fine, I told you he was gonna be fine and we have arrived at that time!’ And I was like, ‘Girl, please!’ ”
The 66-year-old noted that Shepherd had a run-in with her son and his now-fiancée at this year’s Essence Fest in New Orleans. Ironically, the surprise encounter happened one week before Maurice proposed.
“It was quite the thing she [Shepherd] said, ‘Uh don’t – listen, please don’t think I’m gonna stop just because you got a good girlfriend. Come on, Etienne. I knew you first Etienne,’ ” Ralph recalled. “Oh, it was hilarious.”
As previously stated, Shepherd has not been shy about taking a romantic liking to Maurice. “Sheryl Lee Ralph don’t want me over for no girl’s night,” the 56-year-old previously said while speaking to her audience about the young adult. “I’m up here with Etienne! That’s where I’m at.”
The “Moesha” actress reacted to Shepherd’s initial comments in June via X by sharing a snippet of the former “The View” host’s comments on her page. “@sherrieshepherd repeatWHAT?!?!,” Ralph wrote.
Maurice also responded to Shepherd’s statement, and seemed rather tickled by her crush.
“Nah @sherrieshepherd you wild for this… ‘I got my third eye on you’ is crazyyyy lmaoo,” the Drexel graduate penned.
Ralph also has a 28-year-old daughter, Ivy-Victoria Maurice. She shares both of her children with her ex-husband Eric Maurice.
