The Talk’s Sheryl Underwood’s twin sister died at birth, abusive mother said her father was to blame

On the final day of The Talk‘s Secrets Week, comedian Sheryl Underwood revealed more about her painful childhood.

“People ask comedians, ‘Where does the funny come from?’ And, for me, it comes from my desire to never feel what I felt throughout my childhood and certain periods of my life,” Sheryl said. “So, I try to make everybody laugh and everybody happy.”

Sheryl, who has previously opened up about her husband’s suicide, said she is also affected on a daily basis by another loss in her life: She then elaborated on the fact she was born a twin, but her sister only lived a few days. As Sheryl grew older, her mother didn’t want her to have a relationship with her father — so she told Sheryl that her father had asphyxiated the twin.

“So, for years, you know I loved my father, but I did not get very close to him until one day I saw my mother stab my father,” she said, adding that was just one instance of domestic violence that she witnessed while growing up.

In spite of the chaos in her home life, Sheryl always felt her twin sister was there as a guardian angel. She even carried her twin’s birth certificate in her pocket for many years.

“Every day that I’m hugging and smiling at you guys is because my sister is right there on my shoulder,” she tearfully explained to her The Talk co-hosts.

Coincidentally, Sheryl and the other ladies were later joined by Lisa Marie Presley. Lisa then recounted the story of Elvis Presley’s twin brother, Jesse Garon. Similar to Sheryl’s story, Jesse died at birth, but Elvis always felt a close bond. The Presley family even decided to move Jesse’s grave to Graceland when Elvis was buried there.