Sheryl Lee Ralph Finally Spills the Tea On the Surprising Secret to Her Successful Marriage

Sheryl Lee Ralph isn’t shying away from talking about her successful marriage—but what she shared just might surprise you.

The Abbott Elementary” star recently opened up about the one little people may not know about her longtime relationship and that’s the fact that she and her husband Senator Vincent Hughes have been living separately for almost two decades. Ralph made the revelation in a new interview with PEOPLE where she discussed their unorthodox living situation and why it works for them. The two began dating back in 2000 after meeting through a mutual friend and would go on to wed five years later.

“I’m very fortunate. The man that I am married to is Senator Vincent Hughes, seventh Senatorial district of Pennsylvania,” she explained. “You fall in love with somebody and you realize he’s not leaving his career. He’s not leaving Philadelphia. I’m not leaving Hollywood. When you have children, it’s very difficult.”

While Ralph and Hughes don’t have any children together, their family consists of Ralph’s son Etienne Maurice and daughter Ivy-Victoria “Coco” Maurice, of whom she shares with her first husband Eric Maurice.

The “Moesha” star went on to further share how due to the demands of each other’s careers and her children, she and Hughes worked out a system years ago where she would stay in Los Angeles and he would stay in Philadelphia and they would go visit each other every two weeks. Now, that system is still in place is working wonderfully for the both of them.

“Every two weeks we saw each other, and it has continued to work out well. When I go to see him, I love to see him. When it’s time to leave, ‘Bye-bye. See you soon.’ I’m telling you, life is good,” Ralph said.

She later added: “He has his own life. I have my own life. He has his own real career, I have my own real career. He has his light to stand in, I have my light to stand in. He is not looking at me thinking about status or this or that. He’s doing his thing. I get to do my thing...So it’s all good. It is all good.”