Amber Riley Gets Real About Feeling Nervous Before Red Carpets: 'Your Girl Be Shaking in Her Boots'

Brenton Blanchet
·3 min read
Amber Riley
Amber Riley

John Lamparski/WireImage

Amber Riley is getting real about her nerves.

The Glee alum, 36, shared a new TikTok on Friday, detailing how she feels during red carpet events and what she does to alleviate some of that stress.

"I guess we're having a keep-it-real kinda morning," Riley said in the clip. "Imma be real with y'all, every time I have to do red carpets, your girl be shaking in her boots. I go down the rabbit hole of like, 'People are gonna see this, am I gonna have the right angle?'"

RELATED: Watch Jennifer Hudson Sing 'Dreamgirls' Duet with 'Glee' Alum Amber Riley

As for why she gets nervous, Riley revealed while doing her makeup in front of her phone camera that what "society" tells her has instilled a sense of doubt.

"Black is not beautiful, fat is not beautiful, my nose is too wide, my face is too round, my belly is too big," Riley said of the remarks she's had to hear. "But here's what I'm gonna say. I will always fight to be the best me that I can possibly be."

"I have something special to offer this world," she continued. "And instead of walking away from it, I'm gonna embrace it and I'm gonna make it work for me. And I'm gonna get on the red carpet tonight and I'm gonna look fine as hell. I shine from within because I am constantly working on what is on the inside. So when I get on that carpet tonight, y'all gon' see me shine."

The video then cuts to a clip of Riley walking the carpet at the Recording Academy Honors presented by the Black Music Collective on Saturday — soundtracked by "No Tears Left to Cry" by Ariana Grande. During the event, Riley wore black boots, a black dress, held a black and gold bag, and rocked a pair of massive gold hoops to pull it all together.

RELATED: Amber Riley Says She 'Didn't Really Know Where I Stood' on 'The Masked Singer' Before Winning

Amber Riley arrives for the Black Music Collective Grammy Week 2023 Celebration event
Amber Riley arrives for the Black Music Collective Grammy Week 2023 Celebration event

VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images

While Riley has always been her true authentic self, she switched things up this winter when she won the coveted Golden Mask trophy on The Masked Singer. The singer and actress, who took on the costume of Harp, said her time on the competition show marked "another way for people to connect with me."

"Some days I was like, 'Oh my God, get me out of this.' And some days, I think maybe towards the end, it almost felt like a weird comfort thing," Riley told PEOPLE in December. "I got so used to it that it just felt like second skin eventually. But the mask was always hot though. I did not enjoy the hot mask."

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The star even revealed to PEOPLE after her victory that she's working on new material, since "music is always going to be a major part of my life."

"Leaving Masked Singer and then actually winning and hearing all the things that people had to say about my voice ignited another fire in me," she said. "The music that has been coming out of those sessions has been absolutely amazing and I can't wait for the world to hear it."

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