Tisha Campbell went viral when her best friend on and off-screen Tichina Arnold pulled up to her book signing for a surprise reunion and social media is swooning at the bestie blessings. “Can I get 20 books? I need 20 books!” she yelled.
Arnold understood the assignment when it comes to showing up and showing out for your friend. She needed no microphone when she walked into the bookstore, joking that she’s ready to cop enough copies to fill a bookshelf.
“I had to surprise you! I’m so proud of you,” she told her Schooldaze castmate.
We truly love to see it!
The My Wife & Kids star opened up about motherhood, Autism, and sharing another side of herself beyond the iconic comedy in her new book, The A Word: A Mother’s Journey Through Autism and Love. In the memoir, Campbell explains how she how she navigated advocacy and caregiving after her son Xen was diagnosed with Autism. In addition to what she learned about Xen’s experience of the world, Campbell was recently diagnosed with both Autism and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
On The Way Up with Angela Yee, Campbell said the “AuDHD” revelation is so new that she didn’t write about it in the book or publicly share it before the interview. “I got the diagnosis after I wrote the book, so that part’s not even in the book. This just happened this year,” Campbell said. In hindsight, she could recognize all the ways she constantly masked to conceal her neurodivergence, which includes Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
“I’ve got a lot of stuff going on. My whole entire life, I’ve masked in front of the public and I’ve masked with my loudness and my jokes. That was my way of hiding in plain sight,” Campbell shared on the radio show. “You couldn’t be different,” she said about her New Jersey upbringing. “You couldn’t stand out like that, so I guess I’ve been masking my entire life.”
While many are still learning the facts about people on the Autism spectrum, Campbell said the diagnoses allowed her to understand herself on a different level. One of the characteristics of the condition was once called “fixations,” but the updated term is “special interests.” This is part of what made her the dynamic diva we all know and love.
“My special interest was always acting and music. I feel like I know myself so much better and I do all the things and (I’ve) been hiding from everybody that I stim,” she shared about self-stimulation, which is repetitive behaviors like humming, tapping fingers, or hair twirling believed to help with self-regulation, according to the Lighthouse Autism Center.
The new knowledge about Campbell’s health also brought her closer to Xen, who was overjoyed to welcome his mom to the club.
“He was like this: ‘Yay, I got a friend,” she recalled, eagerly clapping her hands. “He was happy.”
Campbell isn’t the only one sharing news that went viral.
Hit the flip for Tichina Arnold’s confession about “humiliating” treatment behind the scenes of Martin.
Tichina Arnold Reveals Why Pam Was MIA From Several Martin Episodes: “My Salary Went To Guest Stars”
The cast of Martin quickly became as beloved as the roster of iconic celebrity cameos, however it came at a cost fans never realized. It turns out one of the heaviest hitters in hilarity was sacrificed to pay the who’s who of Black Hollywood to appear on the series. In an interview with The Maverick Approach, Tichina Arnold revealed that her contract dictated she didn’t work or get paid whenever the series had a guest star.
“People don’t realize I wasn’t in every episode. Anytime there was a guest, I wasn’t on it. You did not see Pam. My salary went to guest stars. That’s my contract for seven out of 13,” she said, breaking down that she only appeared in half the episodes.
“If you notice when big stars come on, you do not see me,” with a few exceptions like the Biggie episode. “The last two years of Martin was when I was in all shows produced. Thanks to syndication, when you see repeats, it feels like I’m in every episode,” she said, adding that it made her work harder every second on screen.
To add insult to injury, Arnold noted, “I didn’t know if I was going to be in the next episode until we were in the trailer and they started handing out the scripts. If I didn’t get a script… it was pretty humiliating.”
The hosts put The Little Shop of Horrors star on the spot about choosing which one has to go between Martin and Everybody Hates Chris. Arnold pushed back about having a favorite out of the comedy classics, but eventually broke down why Martin isn’t her pick.
“If I were to really, really try to answer that, I would say Martin has to go,” she admitted, to both hosts surprise. “See how Martin means something different to you? Here’s why: on Everybody Hates Chris, I was a new mother. First time I was playing a mother. First time I was number one on the call sheet. It was the first time that I had a heavy load on a show that I really loved doing. I learned a lot more life lessons doing Everybody Hates Chris.”
Arnold’s career continued to flourish with many gems along the way after that, starring in Survivor’s Remorse, Last Black Man In San Francisco, Lockdown, Everybody Still Hates Chris, and most recently, The Neighborhood with Cedric the Entertainer.
After posting a throwback audition for the role of Shug Avery to “encourage fellow entertainers out there,” it’s clear there is no limit to what the powerhouse behind Pam can do. Fans can look forward to seeing her with daughter Alijah Kai on Netflix’s reboot of A Different World.
Check out Tichina Arnold’s full interview on The Maverick Approach below.
