All About Keke Palmer's Sister, Loreal Palmer

The season 1 winner of 'Claim to Fame' is a horror movie fanatic with filmmaking aspirations

Keke Palmer isn’t the only creative in her family. The multitalented star got to show the world how cool her older sister, Loreal Palmer, was when she appeared on and won the first season of ABC’s Claim to Fame.

Loreal played the game well and received support from viewers, including Keke. In fact, the actress insisted on watching every episode with her sister as they aired.

"I wish I would've filmed her reactions to some of the stuff because she is so serious and she's always like, 'Don't tell me, I wanna watch and I wanna find out.' It's almost as entertaining as just watching [the show],” Loreal told PEOPLE.

Keke has given credit to her family for inspiring her with creativity and humor, but she’s also said that she admires older sister Loreal as a person and as a mother, as she has three children. Likewise, Loreal has said that Keke inspires her too.

“I am so BEYOND proud of the beautiful woman you have become both inside and out and it has been a privilege to watch you go from performing on program for Mildred to performing for the world,” she wrote in a birthday Instagram post dedicated to Keke in 2021.

Loreal is a fan of horror and thriller films, and has said she’d like to make her own someday, maybe even starring sister Keke. She once told PEOPLE she’d love to be “the next Wes Craven.”

So who is Keke Palmer's sister? Here's what to know about Loreal Palmer and her relationship with her actress sibling.

She’s the child of actors

Keke and Loreal were born in Harvey, Illinois, and raised in Robbins, Illinois, alongside their other siblings, twins Lawrence and Lawrencia Palmer, and their parents, Sharon and Lawrence "Larry" Palmer.

Sharon and Lawrence met as students in drama school, and both worked as actors before having children. Their father is currently a Catholic deacon, and their mother is a high school teacher.

When Keke wanted to start acting, it was Loreal who she had to persuade to move to Los Angeles with their family.

"I knew opportunities would pop up if I just kept on trying. I talked it over with my sister, and I didn't have anything to bribe her,” Keke said in an interview with USA Today. Luckily, Loreal was supportive of her little sister’s dreams.

“I asked her, 'Please?' I knew she was excited about going to high school and I didn't want to take that away from her — but I really wanted my dream to come true. She said, 'You're really talented, and I think this could be good for you.' "

She’s a winning reality show contestant

Loreal got her fifteen minutes of fame when she won the first season of ABC’s Claim to Fame, a reality show where relatives of celebrities try to guess each other’s claim to fame in a series of challenges and guessing ceremonies.

Speaking to PEOPLE about the experience, Loreal revealed that she was surprised at how emotionally taxing being on the show was.

"It's a game, but real people are involved and real feelings. I used to watch reality TV and when I'd see someone have a breakdown, I'd be like, 'Oh this is so dramatic.' But now I apologize to those people who I thought that about. I was not expecting the emotional toll that it took,” she shared.

Though Loreal was the winner, she hinted at her relation to Keke in various challenges, including a surprisingly sentimental one where she wore a bee costume to represent Keke’s movie, Akeelah and the Bee. Despite the clear nod to her celebrity sister, her fellow contestants thought it was a hint at being related to Laurence Fishburne, who also starred in the film.

"I'm different and I was teased a lot as a kid, so that doesn't make you feel pretty," Loreal said, crying in a confessional video. "That challenge, I finally felt like I was. I know I was a bee, but I felt like I was a butterfly.”

Loreal won over the public and her castmates, whom she’s said she keeps in touch with.

"We have a group chat, and then we have individual conversations going on," she told PEOPLE. "I'm hoping that we always keep in contact because it was just such a unique experience bringing people together who otherwise probably never would've even met. It's like I'm walking away with 11 new friends."

She’s also posted a few behind-the-scenes photo dumps of her time on the show, featuring images of her and her castmates bonding with one another, hosts Frankie and Kevin Jonas and crew members.

“This was truly a life changing experience and it only goes up from here! I love you all, and I am proud to say I did this with you guys,” she wrote in one other Instagram post.

She’s a role model for her younger sister

Keke is not shy about giving big sis Loreal her flowers and reminding her how much she inspires her.

“Only a rare few know you are the true talent in the family from Mariah Carey notes to Jim Carey hilarity, I have always looked up to you,” Keke wrote in a 2022 birthday post on Instagram for her sister, accompanied by a sweet photo of the pair.

“After all these years you still stand to be someone I can learn from in even more impactful ways,” she continued. “Seeing you as a mother, a wife and just not a kid anymore has been the coolest thing to see! Witnessing your strength and your faith reveals your depth and virtue.”

Despite being the older one, Loreal has also given Keke credit for teaching her some valuable lessons.

"The main [lesson] that she taught me that I hope I'm passing on to my own children is that you can do whatever you want. You can be whoever you want,” Loreal said of Keke to PEOPLE. “You're gonna have people who don't agree with what you're doing or who don't like you and that's okay. It's a part of life. You have to keep going and living for yourself."

She’s a mother of three

Loreal is a mom of three children: a son named Alex, and two daughters, Ali and Aaliyah.

Loreal welcomed Alex, who also goes by the nicknames AJ and Age, with her ex-husband, Frank Wimberly III, in July 2014. The couple’s first daughter, Ali, was born in 2015. Aaliyah, the youngest, was born on April 17, 2019.

In Dec. 2021, aunt Keke shared a short video starring her nephew and nieces, which she jokingly referred to as her “directorial, editing and DP debut.”

“My nephew @gaming_with_age told me he wanted to be an actor like me when he grows up 🥺 — so we decided to film a movie! His two little sisters decided to join and we even did a little premiere,” she wrote.

“I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that we have this facet to channel our creativity. My parents were entertainers, my siblings are entertainers (though they don’t always actively pursue it lol) and I’m an entertainer,” she continued. “We are taking it into the next generation. My heart is SO full.”

After making Keke an aunt a few times, Loreal finally became an aunt to Keke’s son, Leodis Andrellton Jackson in February 2023.

She loves horror movies

Loreal loves horror and slasher films, and she has the tattoos to prove it.

In September 2022, she showed off her latest tattoo, a cartoon version of Michael Myers from the Halloween franchise. Shortly after, she posted photos of two more cartoon horror-themed tattoos: one of slasher Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th horror film franchise, and one of Pennywise, the clown from Stephen King’s It, in the same style.

She also has a matching tattoo with Keke. According to the actress, they have Goonies tattoos on their feet because they love the movie.

But Loreal doesn’t just enjoy watching horror films, as she has said that she’d love to be behind the scenes one day too.

"I want to make horror movies," she once told PEOPLE. "My dream is, I would love to be the next Wes Craven. He's my idol. I am a huge fan of '80s slashers, and I feel like so much of what's out right now is so psychological or supernatural and I just wanna bring back the good old fashion slasher."

Loreal also noted that she’d love to work on a horror film with her sister, Keke, who starred in Jordan Peele’s 2022 sci-fi horror movie Nope.

"She loves horror too, so I'm hoping that we can merge together and do some pretty insane things."

She has plans to launch a film company

In an interview with PopCulture, Loreal spoke about her plans for the future and reflected on the recent changes in her life that made her Claim to Fame victory even more profound.

"Winning for me is just so crazy because I recently divorced, I have three small children, [and] I am back in school," Loreal shared.

"I also want to start my own film production company. So it's just like, 'OK, great. Things are falling into place,' ” she added. “I just want to make it work. I want to make it count."

She also stated that the $100,000 prize money from winning Claim to Fame would be a great help in putting her plans in motion.

“You know, you always have ‘pipe dreams,’ where you’re like, ‘If I ever have the opportunity, this is what I’d do.’ Now I have the opportunity, so I have to do all these things I said I wanted to do,” she said.

She prefers to stay low-key

Despite becoming a reality TV star, Loreal is a rather private person. In fact, she said she was shocked that she was even approached to star on Claim to Fame because of how private she is.

“Someone reached out to me, and not gonna lie, I thought it was some type of scam,” Loreal told PopCulture about how she was scouted for the show. “I’m so hidden and so far removed from Keke ... how did you even find me?”

While she was hesitant to appear on reality TV, Loreal said her sister pushed her to take the opportunity.

“Keke has been trying to get me to do stuff forever, so she was like, ‘There’s no question. You’re doing it, so enjoy,’ ” Loreal said.

Even in the wake of her winning the competition, Loreal has remained pretty quiet on social media, only posting sparingly.

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