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Jennifer Hudson Loves that Spirit Tunnel Spreads Joy
Jennifer Hudson is feeling the love for a relatively new part of her talk show.
The actress and singer is celebrating the viral success of the “Spirit Tunnel” guests on “The Jennifer Hudson Show” walk down on their way to the stage.
The guests dance down a backstage hallway flanked by show staff, who sing a custom chant tailored to each star, while clapping along.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Hudson says, “Our goal and mission for season 3 was to choose joy. What better way to spread joy than through song? Now, we have the whole world chanting and singing.”
The Spirit Tunnel Gets Celebrities In the Groove
The most recent Spirit Tunnel post on the show’s Instagram page shows singer Bobby Brown getting his groove on as staff members sing a modified version of his hit “My Prerogative,” with customized lyrics.
Brown joins a long list of celebrities who have danced their way onto the show, including Gwen Stefani, Eric McCormack, Keke Palmer, Niecy Nash and Shemar Moore.
Jay Ellis, currently preparing for his Off-Broadway debut in “Duke & Roya,” told PEOPLE he was all in for his Spirit Tunnel experience. “I was just like, ‘Listen, man, I only get one time down this tunnel, I may not get this again. I don’t know what they’re going to sing, but I may not get this again, but I’m going to take every single moment and eat it up. I’m going to soak up every single moment.’”
“What you not going to say is I didn’t have no joy walking down that Spirit Tunnel because I had all the joy walking down that Spirit Tunnel. You can’t take that away from me,” Ellis added.
Why Actor Noah Wyle Didn’t Get His Groove On
While viewers have come to expect every guest to bust a move in the Spirit Tunnel, participation is totally voluntary. In fact, when actor Noah Wyle appeared on Jennifer’s show April 8 to promote his show “The Pitt,” he decided to give the tunnel a miss.
But he explained why, telling the host, “Well, it would’ve triggered a bigger breakdown that I had on this show two weeks ago if I had done it,” (referring to a scene in “The Pitt” season 1 episode 13.)
Wyle then told Jennifer a story from 1984, when the actor attended a friend’s bar mitzvah, saying at the time he “fancied myself a break dancer.”
“I went out and I heard Herbie Hancock’s ‘Rockit’ playing in front of all my classmates,” he laughed. “And I attempted the worm and I got into some kind of inverted position and it all collapsed on me. I tried to stick it. And I didn’t stick it.”
Since then, Wyle says he opts out of public dancing altogether.
The show posted Wyle’s explanation on Instagram with the caption, “We’re giving Noah Wyle a hall pass for skipping our Spirit Tunnel 🫶🏾”
Jennifer Hudson Surprised With Her Own Spirit Tunnel
Still it seems the spirit of the Spirit Tunnel is spreading.
The cast of the Broadway musical “Smash” surprised Jennifer Hudson with a Spirit Tunnel of her own during her visit to see the show on May 15.
The EGOT winner is a co-producer of the Tony-nominated musical. She also starred in the second season of the 2012 NBC series of the same name.
“The [Smash] cast did a Spirit Tunnel for me,” she told PEOPLE. “People everywhere are doing Spirit Tunnels. And it’s like, ‘Wow, we got the whole world singing right now.’ What better way to spread joy and love than that?”
The musical posted a video on Instagram of Jennifer dancing her way through the tunnel with enthusiasm, writing, “WE CAN’T LET GO! A #SmashBway spirit tunnel for our producer @iamjhud🌟.”
