Cynthia Erivo doesn’t like questions about her business in the bathroom.
The “Wicked” star, 37, appeared on “Armchair Expert” on Monday and clapped back at host Dax Shepard for asking how she wipes her butt with her long talon nails.
Shepard, 49, noted that the question was “inappropriate” but he asked it anyway — and Erivo knew it was coming.
“No one’s afraid to ask it. Everybody asks that question,” she said.
“My answer is that nobody uses just their fingers to wipe their backside,” the Tony Award winner explained. “You use tissue, correct? And you wipe!”
Shepard then asked her, “Does the tissue go on the tip of the fingernails, or do you try to get the tissue?”
“Pads of the fingers,” Erivo answered.
“Great, great, great, now we’re getting somewhere,” Shepard said. “Then you’re just feeling the little tickle of the nails on the crack of your butt sometimes?”
Erivo clarified that she doesn’t have that problem because of the tissue. Shepard, finally satisfied with her answer, joked that he’d “make a mitten” with the tissue paper to wipe his own butt.
Kristen Bell’s hubby then asked Erivo if she’s “offended” by what he asked.
“I get it. I’m annoyed by it. I’m, like, ‘Come on, guys,” she 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…’ ”
“No one thinks that,” Shepard noted. “In fact, everyone thinks you smell so good. It begs the question, ‘How are you wiping your tush?’ “
To further defend herself, Erivo noted that “there are people who do not have nails who need to check how they’re wiping.”
The “Harriet” star reiterated that her long nails have been a hot topic with fans.
“People are bold. People are always like, ‘How do you get anything done with those nails?’” she said. “And I’m like, ‘I mean, I’m here!’ I’m dressed.”
Erivo has been showing off her talon nails on the press tour for “Wicked.” She’s channeled her character Elphaba at the premieres in Australia, Los Angeles, Mexico, New York City, and London ahead of the film’s release this weekend.
Directed by Jon M. Chu, “Wicked” is based on the beloved Broadway production and stars Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda the Good Witch. The cast also includes Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh and Ethan Slater.
During a recent appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Erivo said it took four hours everyday to turn green for the movie.
“It was part of the experience for me. I asked for it,” she said.
Erivo also shared that she’ll “always be connected” to her “Wicked” character.
“I don’t know if I can leave Elphaba behind completely,” she said. “She’s got a little bit of part of my heart. We spent so long with her that it’s tough to let her go completely.”
