Kerry Washington, 46, reveals her first celebrity crush was Lionel Richie, 74: ‘I’d probably still cry now if Hello came on’

Kerry Washington has made much of her life clear in her new memoir Thicker Than Water.

The 46-year-old actress revealed her first celebrity crush while promoting the tome on Thursday Watch what’s happening live with Andy Cohen.

“Who was your first celebrity crush?” Andy asked the Scandal star during a game of The First Timers Club.

“Oddly enough…I think Lionel Richie,” the Emmy winner replied.

“You bought me that Lionel Richie poster, remember?” she said, turning to her father Earl Washington, who had joined her on set and was positioned behind the bar at the Bravo Clubhouse.

‘Yes Yes!’ he replied.

Lionel Richie performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on September 8, 2023

Kerry looked sensational in a cognac skirt and top combo with turquoise suede boots for her appearance on WWHL.

In October last year, she dressed up as the 74-year-old Grammy winner for Halloween, copying the hitmaker’s look from his 1982 self-titled album.

She recorded a video of herself lip-syncing to the 1982 single You are the Sun, You are the Rain as part of the celebration.

The Little Fires Everywhere star also admitted during the quick questioning that her most recent text was from friend Jennifer Aniston.

“Yes, she sent me proof that she had just purchased the book,” the writer explained.

“It was really cute.”

Kerry opened up about her career and admitted she knew she wanted to be an actress. “When I saw my mother crying during a performance I was playing.”

“Because I thought, ‘This is a woman who gave birth to me, she knows who I am, but I managed to fool her into thinking I was someone else.'” she said.

Celebrity crush: Kerry admitted that her first celebrity crush was Grammy winner Lionel Richie. In 2022, she dressed up with the hitmaker for Halloween

Career path: Kerry knew she wanted to be an actress ‘When I saw my mother crying during a performance… I thought, ‘This is a woman who gave birth to me, she knows who I am, but I could fool her by to think I was someone else” (pictured in Beverly Hills in February 2020)

In her memoir, the versatile actress discussed another role that influenced her career trajectory, 2004’s Against The Ropes.

“In it, I played (Meg Ryan’s) colleague and confidante – this became a new niche for me, the white girl’s best friend,” the author wrote.

“While Harry Met Sally remains to this day one of my top three movies of all time, playing the role against anyone else would have been a lateral move once I played Meg Ryan’s best friend,” she explained out.

Decision: After starring in 2004’s On the Ropes with Meg Ryan, Kerry wrote that she had made a major career decision. ‘I wanted my characters to have their own story. “I didn’t want to be an accomplice in a white woman’s journey,” she wrote

Memoir: Thicker Than Water was released Tuesday, September 26 and is available online and in bookstores

“It’s not that I wanted to be the star of the movie; I wanted my characters to have their own story. I didn’t want to be an accomplice in a white woman’s journey.”

That decision ultimately led to her being cast as political fixer Olivia Pope on Scandal, making her the first black woman in 38 years to star in a network drama.

Scandal debuted in 2012 and ran for six years.

Thicker Than Water was released Tuesday, September 26 and is available online and in bookstores.