Tyler Perry may not strike fans as someone who is afraid of anything. But he recently confessed the way he got over one of his biggest fears, and it had one major daytime host completely baffled.
Tyler was a guest on the July 11 episode of Live With Kelly and Mark to promote his new movie Divorce in the Black. As hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos talked to him about what he likes to do when he's not working, he disclosed he loves to fly RC airplanes. When prompted about how he got into the hobby, he revealed it came from him being afraid of flying.
"I was running in the park one day and I saw a guy flying a plane," he began. "I was like, 'I need a hobby,' and at the same time, 9/11 had happened. So I had stopped flying and it was such an awful time that I wouldn't get on a plane. I started flying these things and learning how airplanes work, and it calmed me to understand," Tyler continued. "I went on from there and got my pilot's license."
Upon hearing how Tyler overcame his phobia of flying, Kelly called him out for his brilliance ... and how she never thought of doing such a thing.
"You are such a cerebral person," she said. "I had a fear of rollercoasters. It didn't occur to me to build a rollercoaster," she laughed. Live executive producer Michael "Gelman just hired a hypnotist, who was like, 'You are no longer afraid.' And then they said, 'We're gonna put you on a rollercoaster with a TV camera and film you. And I was like, 'I can do anything on camera.' So, the fear of being embarrassed on camera overrode my fear of rollercoasters."
Kelly's own phobia sparked another comment from Tyler about his feelings on rollercoasters. Although he managed to kick his fear of flying, the same couldn't be said for riding the amusement park attraction.
"No, I'm not getting on a rollercoaster," he said. "That's a fear we both will share forever."
We totally get it!
As the entertainment and news associate editor for Good Housekeeping, Adrianna (she/her) writes about everything TV, movies, music and pop culture. She graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in business management. She covers shows like The Rookie, 9-1-1 and Grey's Anatomy, though when she’s not watching the latest show on Netflix, she’s taking martial arts or drinking way too much coffee.
