“How U DOIN” Sherri
Kareem Youngblood and Sherri Shepherd
Back in the early 2000s, I got my hands on some tickets to The Wendy Williams Show, and let me tell you—it was pure magic. If you were an '80s or '90s baby, especially from NYC, you knew Wendy was that girl. When she said your name, whether it was good, bad, or a legendary How you doin'?, your ass was FAMOUS.
Growing up, I wanted to see my name in lights. I also had this wild thought that I could somehow suppress my sexuality in public—until my inevitable Wendy interview where she would hit me with a How U Doin’? For those who don’t know, that phrase started as a way of greeting among gay men, and when Wendy said it, it was basically a knowing “we see you, sis.” I thought I was hiding back then, but she would’ve clocked me immediately. It was my nightmare, but also…my dream. And I wanted it bad!
Once How U Doin’? became just a catchphrase for TV, I was already deep in the Wendy universe. I went to the show a lot. Marco Glorious—the audience producer and ultimate hype man—made the experience addictive, and Wendy? She always took it home.
Have you ever seen someone and felt like they were going to be your friend? That’s how I felt about Marco. Yeah, he’s a King Size snack, but I like gummy candy, so it wasn’t even about that. There was just something there. Somehow, we ended up Facebook friends.
Fast forward: I start baking professionally. One day, I get invited to bring cupcakes to The Wendy Williams Show for a breast cancer survivor makeover with Mary Alice Stephenson. My name was on the green room door! It was surreal. After that, I kept going back.
Then came 2020. I landed on Chopped Sweets after Sugar Rush, but NYC media doesn’t really care about us small fish. I wanted to make my own moment. I asked a “friend” to interview me on IG Live, but they hit me with, “I don’t know, I gotta get my eyebrows done.” BITCH. At that moment, I was like, I’m getting Oprah.
But really, I wanted Marco. We were just Facebook friends, had met a few times, but I figured he wouldn’t remember me. Still, I had a message typed out to him that I never sent. Well, after the eyebrow excuse, I hit send.
Next thing I know, Marco picks me and Manny up from Brooklyn, drives us to a studio in Westchester, we film the interview, eat dinner with the whole crew, and he drives us home.
Then, Manny and I made it to one of the final recordings of The Wendy Williams Show. A chef from Food Network was there. During the break, Marco—IN FRONT OF WENDY—announces, “We also have another chef from Food Network in the house!” He made me stand up. I had on my orange red bottoms. Wendy nodded, smiled, looked me up and down, and hit me with a thumbs-up. That was it. That was my Wendy moment.
But now we’ve got a new queen in town. Wendy will always be an icon, but Sherri, it’s YOU popping up in my dreams now!
For Marco’s birthday, I made cupcakes, and Sherri was there. We sat right next to each other. I told her how much I love that she includes her team in everything—how she brings them along for the cool moments, making sure they shine. The next day, she talked about the party on her show—and they even showed my cupcakes on air!
Then, on Monday, March 10th—the morning Spring Baking Championship Season 11 premiered—I went to The Sherri Show and brought cupcakes for the whole set. They gave me the full VIP treatment. And now? I’m daydreaming of sitting on that couch, crying my eyes out, telling my whole story.
Sherri, if you ever write “And we had CupKA’AKs” in your handwriting, I’d get it TATTOOED. And I still want to say How U Doin’?—just to make that dream come true!
