Sherri Shepherd reveals Oprah called her with advice for new talk show: 'I took 15 pages of notes'
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Sherri Shepherd is moving into new daytime territory with a key blessing from Oprah Winfrey.
The former View panelist and upcoming Sherri show host exclusively tells EW that Winfrey called her after Shepherd texted the Emmy winner "two or three times" to discuss her tenure at the helm of the new series.
"The advice that she gave me to do a talk show, I took 15 pages of notes until my fingers cramped up. I took a potassium pill because my fingers were cramped and I couldn't write anymore. I said, hold on, I have to commit this to memory, because nobody will believe that I'm talking to and laughing with Oprah," Shepherd says.
She continues: "One thing I took from Oprah is, she said, 'Sherri, the show is not about the ratings, it's about the energy. You put out the energy, and it will come back in direct proportion to you from the audience. It's your responsibility. You're in charge of the energy that is on your show.' I felt that, because I was like, damn, I just wanted to show some viral videos and make people laugh. But it's true, it's the energy you give off, which is why we love Oprah."
SHERRI/Debmar-Mercury; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Sherri Shepherd reveals advice Oprah gave to her before the 'Sherri' show premiere.
Shepherd says she loves Winfrey — who changed the face of daytime talk with The Oprah Winfrey Show from 1986 and 2011 — so much that the notes she took are getting permanent placement in her life.
"I'm literally going to frame the 15 pages of notes," Shepherd shares. "I'm not even throwing them away. Those will be in my memoirs, my biopic, the notes will be on the wall. If I could've recorded Oprah, I would've, because I said that nobody is going to believe this."
Shepherd is set to step into her role on Sherri after filling in as a guest host on The Wendy Williams Show's final season before the program came to an end — and left an open slot in the syndication schedule — in June.
Sherri debuts on Sept. 12.
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