Cynthia Erivo begrudgingly schooled Dax Shepard on how she uses the bathroom while wearing long artificial nails.
The British actress-singer, who stars alongside Ariana Grande in upcoming musical fantasy Wicked, appeared on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard this week. Midway through the 2-hour conversation, Shepard inquired about Erivo's false nails.
But the question wasn't just about the length: Shepard wanted to know how Erivo wipes herself.
The trio, including Armchair co-host Monica Padman, was discussing Erivo's Wicked costume, to which Shepard's question about her gloves oddly went further.
"Can I ask you a really crazy question that’s inappropriate?” the actor-comedian began around the 52-minute mark of the video below. “When you're wiping your butt…"
Erivo answered, "I knew you would ask that question," and added that "no one's afraid" to inquire.
“And my answer is nobody uses just their fingers to wipe their backside. You use tissue, correct? And you wipe,” she continued.
Shepard, however, needed more of an explanation and asked if Erivo places toilet paper on "the tip of the fingernails."
"Pads of the fingers," Erivo answered.
“Great, great, great, now we’re getting somewhere,” Shepard continued before adding if there's times where Erivo feels a "little tickle of the nails on the crack of your butt sometimes?"
“No, because the tissue’s there … none of that,” Erivo said with apparent discomfort.
Shepard suggested that the actress "make a mitten" with toilet paper, but Erivo considers herself a "folder" of bathroom tissue.
The London native naturally wanted to wrap up that portion of the chat after Shepard asked if she was "offended by that question."
“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…’”
Shepard insisted that "no one thinks" Erivo smells unpleasant. "In fact, everyone thinks you smell so good. It begs the question, how are you wiping your tush?" he asked again.
Erivo said, "Very well," and Padman explained the reason people were concerned about the actress' nail length was because they wouldn't know how to properly clean their own nether regions.
"The problem is that some people need to check how they're wiping because they don't have nails," Erivo said.
Erivo pointed out that individuals are "bold" enough to ask, "How do you manage to accomplish anything with those nails?"
"And I’m like, ‘I mean, I’m here! I’m dressed,'" she said.
Aside from her acting and vocal talent, Erivo's nails have been a common topic of Wicked press, with one child influencer cheekily complimenting the actress' manicure during an interview.
Despite the uncomfortable nail questions, Erivo can't be too mad: In September, she was named as the new ambassador for nail polish company OPI.
