Cynthia Erivo is known for her incredible talent, stunning red-carpet appearances, and, of course, her signature long nails. But during a recent appearance on a podcast, the Tony Award-winning actress found herself fielding an unexpected and, frankly, eyebrow-raising question about her hygiene routine.
Throughout the Wicked press tour, Erivo has sported long witchy manicures with details that allude to her character in the movie.
The Wicked star appeared as a recent guest on the podcast Armchair Expert hosted by Dax Shepard. The conversation took a surprising turn when Shepard asked Erivo how she manages to wipe with her long nails—a question that left the actress visibly annoyed. While she addressed the query gracefully, she didn’t shy away from expressing her frustration.
Approximately 52 minutes into the episode, Shepard inquired about how she managed to wipe her backside while sporting nail extensions.
“Can I ask you a really crazy question that’s inappropriate?” Shepard began. “When you’re wiping your butt…”
The actress confessed to Shepard that “everyone feels comfortable asking” her that kind of question and that she receives it often.
“I knew you would ask that question,” Erivo replied, adding that “no one’s afraid” to ask her that question.
“And my answer is nobody uses just their fingers to wipe their backside. You use tissue, correct? And you wipe,” she added.
However, the clarification didn’t satisfy Shepard, who went on to inquire whether Erivo puts toilet paper on “the tips of her fingernails.”
“Pads of the fingers,” Erivo responded.
“Great, great, great, now we’re getting somewhere,” Shepard continued. “Then you’re just feeling the little tickle of the nails on the crack of your butt sometimes?”
“No, because the tissue’s there…none of that,” an embarrassed Erivo reacted.
Shepard then unnecessarily suggested to the actress that she should “create a mitten” using toilet paper, to which Erivo responded that she folds the tissue instead.
After Shepard inquired whether Erivo was “offended by that question,” the London native replied, “”I’m annoyed by it. I’m, like, ‘Come on, guys,'” Erivo said. “But I get it, but it’s also, like, ‘I’m a functioning adult, and I’ve never walked around smelling like, you know…'”
The moment quickly sparked a mix of reactions online. Some fans applauded Erivo for her poise in handling such a personal and awkward question, while others criticized Shepard for what they felt was an intrusive and inappropriate topic.
“Asking someone how they wipe is NOT a valid question. IDK about y’all, but I wasn’t raised to ask about people’s bathroom behavior,” a fan wrote.
Another added, “People who overwhelmingly agreed that they don’t wash their legs in a shower, asking Black people who are the architects of everything how they wipe with nails.”
