Published September 20, 2026
Sheryl Lee Ralph has a simple message for anyone wondering where all the good dates are: leave the house.
The Abbott Elementary star, 69, shared her refreshingly blunt relationship advice while attending Warner Bros. Television Group’s 78th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominees Celebration on Monday, September 14, alongside her husband of more than two decades, Vincent Hughes.
“You have to put yourself out there. You got to leave your house. You can’t keep going to the same places, because guess what? You’d keep getting the same thing,” Ralph told People magazine.
Her solution? Shake things up.
“Be different for yourself,” she continued. “Travel, get a passport, see the world. Don’t be afraid of dinner alone in the right places.”
Ralph knows a thing or two about finding love. She recalled writing down exactly what she wanted in a partner and asking God to bring it to her.
“Listen, I literally wrote down and asked God to deliver to me what I felt I needed. Thank God I was right, and he came to me.”
But she’s also realistic about what happens after the happily-ever-after.
“Now, do not think that relationships are going to be perfect,” she said. “They’re not going to be perfect, but if you’re lucky, you’re going to get three-quarters of the way there.”
Ralph and Hughes married in 2005 after meeting through a mutual friend while she was starring on Broadway. As she approaches 70, she credits her family — and a little effort — for keeping her glowing.
“Life is not perfect. We have our ups and downs, but we get through it together, and I’m very thankful to have that in my life,” she said. “So if people look at me and they say, ‘Why does she look this good?’ Honey, I work at it.”
Her beauty secret? Keep it simple, stay active and, above all, keep moving.