Tiffany Haddish is living her best life.
From hosting another season of Kids Say the Darndest Things to finding love with rapper Common, the comedian is basking in her blessings. “I’m super excited about Kids Say the Darndest Things coming back to CBS because that is the original home,” the comedian tells ET’s Kevin Frazier about the revival’s move back to CBS.
“It’s so much fun to do because I’m a big kid, right? And this is a place where I get to be the big kid that I am with little kids and we laugh and we talk about things and the whole family gets to watch,” she continues. “Nobody has to be in this room or that room — we can all watch together and there are jokes that I am going to say that the kids aren’t going to get, but the parents are like, ‘Yes!’ And there is going to be things that the kids say that parents won’t get, but other kids are going to love it. So, it’s a place where we can all come together, and now more than ever, we need laughs.”
Haddish notes that the opportunity to star on the show is “tremendous” for the kids because it’s a place where they’re seen, heard and cared for. “Having children see those children talk about having the same kind of feelings that they are having in a humorous way, somebody that they can relate to, it’s huge,” she says. “And kids need to get out and see other kids so that they can be inspired to do so as well.”
The hosting gig is a full-circle moment for the 41-year-old comedian who reveals that she watched the series when it originally ran and aspired to be cast on the show until she aged out. “And then the show comes back around and I’m like, ‘I get to be on the show and be hosting the show?’ This to me is the biggest honor,” she shares, tearing up. “This is a huge legacy that I’m so happy to be in — and I’m a Black woman! This is huge!”
She adds: “If Tiffany Haddish can do it and she was in foster care and she couldn’t read? And she was homeless? To be able to do that, like, you can push through anything. You can make it through anything and you can achieve anything if you’re willing to put in the work, if you believe hard enough and align yourself with people that can help you get there.”
Common and Tiffany Haddish
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
And, when it comes to her relationship with Common, Haddish can’t help but get emotional. “From my experience in the dating world, men have always tried to put a cap on me and control me or make me dim my light. He lets me be myself which is an anomaly for me. He does not try to put me in some mold or a box, he’s just like, ‘That’s Tiffany, that’s who she is.'”
“That has allowed me to grow in so many ways and it’s refreshing. I want to cry just thinking about it, because you know when you’re like, ‘Am I ever gonna find someone that is OK with me just being me, that doesn’t try to change me?'” she says. “I like him a lot. It’s refreshing! It’s the funnest thing I’ve ever been in. And I feel safe.”
Between her hosting duties, her upcoming movie roles, her GRAMMY-winning comedy career and her blossoming love life, Haddish has a lot to juggle on her plate. She tells ET that she handles everything “one day at a time,” but having a great team helps. And although she wouldn’t call herself a mogul just yet — although she does have her own island in East Africa, which checks off one box on the mogul checklist — she does consider herself a visionary. “I am not moguling just yet, but I am on my way,” she says.
