Actor Sheryl Lee Ralph and her husband, Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent Hughes, may have an unconventional marriage, but it’s working for them.
In an interview released Wednesday by People, the “Abbott Elementary” star said she feels “fortunate” for her partnership with Hughes, noting that they “live in separate places.”
“The man that I am married to, Sen. Vincent Hughes, 7th Senatorial District of [Pennsylvania] ... he has his own life,” she said, beaming with pride. “I have my own life.”
After nearly 20 years of marriage, she explained how they each have a career of their own and an individual “light to stand in.”
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And despite her many accolades, Ralph happily said that her husband isn’t focused on status in their relationship. “He’s doing his thing; I get to do my thing,” she noted.
The time they spend together is harmonious, she shared, yet she also knows when to step away. “Life is good” with this arrangement, which allows Ralph to be “the real good wife,” she said.
Ralph recalled meeting Hughes back when she was in the Broadway play “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and how they soon fell in love. But considering the challenges that come with maintaining a career and family life, Ralph wanted to remain in California and Hughes wanted to stay in Pennsylvania, she said.
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So the couple found a solution that was unique to them.
“Every two weeks we saw each other ... and it has continued to work out well,” Ralph said. “We will celebrate 20 years of marriage, thank you, and some people can’t even get through two. So, it’s all good.”
Her remarks were somewhat reminiscent of those made in 2016 by EGOT winner Whoopi Goldberg, who said she doesn’t want to “live with someone.”
“I don’t want somebody in my house,” Goldberg said at the time.
Elsewhere in her People interview, Ralph spoke about her children, whom she welcomed in the 1990s during a previous marriage: Etienne Maurice and Ivy-Victoria Maurice, aka Ivy Coco Maurice.
“When I look at my children now, I am very proud,” Ralph said. “I look at them and I’m like, ‘I did that.’”
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Check out Ralph’s full interview at People.
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