Noah Wyle Reveals Why He Passed on The Jennifer Hudson Show Spirit Tunnel: ‘Nobody Needs to See That’

The ‘ER’ alum revealed that an incident from 1984 is why he’s not a fan of dancing

Noah Wyle confesses he isn’t really one for dancing.

The Pitt star appeared on the Tuesday, April 8, episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show — but chose not to dance down the spirit tunnel.

The daytime talk show has become known for introducing guests by having them walk down a backstage hallway surrounded by the staff singing a song to them. But on his episode, Wyle, 53, explained why he wasn’t too fond of participating.

Once he joined Jennifer Hudson on her set couches, she immediately asked him why he didn’t want to participate.

“Well, it would’ve triggered a bigger breakdown that I had on this show two weeks ago if I had done it,” Wyle said, referring to The Pitt season 1 episode 13. 

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He explained that when he attended a classmate’s bar mitzvah in 1984, he “fancied myself a break dancer.” 

“I went out and I heard Herbie Hancock’s ‘Rockit‘ playing in front of all my classmates,” he recalled. “And I attempted the worm and I got into some kind of inverted position and it all collapsed on me.”

But when he tried to “stick” the landing, he couldn’t. Now, 41 years later, the ER alum revealed he’s “opted out of the public dance.”

He said that he wouldn’t have given the spirit tunnel the same enthusiasm as other guests, and would’ve been cringing and saying, “No, no, no.”

“And nobody needs to see that,” he said. But he proposed that next time, he could “babystep it.”

“Only if you’re comfortable,” Hudson, 43, said. “We’re just happy to have you here.”

Later, Wyle recalled for Hudson that he and his ER costars used to have bike races against each other. Hudson proposed they have their own the next time he’s on the show. 

“Okay, next time you come, if you don’t do the spirit tunnel, we at least have to race on bikes,” she joked. “Deal?” 

“Deal,” he replied before shaking her hand, adding, “I’m embarrassed that I didn’t do the tunnel. I want to do the tunnel next time.” 

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Hudson told him that her show just wanted to celebrate him. “We just want you to celebrate yourself. It’s all about how you choose to experience the spirit tunnel,” she said.

The official Instagram for the account added Wyle’s explanation to the Instagram feed and captioned it: “We’re giving Noah Wyle a hall pass for skipping our Spirit Tunnel 🫶🏾.”

Despite Wyle’s objections, he may have attempted to give it a go. The Instagram account also added an Instagram Story of him trying to get down the hallway as the staff cheered him on. 

The Pitt’s season 1 finale drops on Max on Thursday, April 10, at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.