PHOTOS‘The Real’ Cast Responds After Fans Slam Them For Not Including Dead 'Cast Member' In 1000th Episode Celebration
Feb. 18 2020, Published 5:31 p.m. ET
During their 1000th episode celebration, The Real castmates seemed to leave out a dead “cast member.” On February 18, Loni Love, Adrienne Bailon, Tamera Mowry, Jeannie Mai and Amanda Seales responded to fans after they accused them of snubbing Fernando The Fish.
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During the Girl Chat segment of the show, Loni, 48, brought the Betta fish to her cohosts’ attention.”We forgot about Fernando the fish. So, Fernando, you were part of our celebration too,” the comedian said. “They checked us. Our Real fans checked us.”
As Adrienne, 36, Tamera, 41, and Jeannie, 41, reminisced about their pet, the Cheetah Girls alum noticed that Amanda, 38, looked confused. She joined the talk show on January 6, and didn’t get to know Fernando, who passed away the previous year.
Tamera told the Insecure actress that The Real cast had a fish. Jeannie chimed in that he was a Betta. “He passed away,” the Sister, Sister star lamented. “So he’s in fish heaven.”
Amanda asked if Fernando had a full life. “Almost. He almost lived a full life,” Tamera responded. Adrienne added that they had a memorial for their pet.
Fernando became a part of The Real cast in 2017. The Betta fish, whose full name is Fernando Iris Goldstein Lee, even had his own Instagram account with over 17K followers.
In January 2019, The Real cast announced that Fernando had passed away on Instagram. “Today we said goodbye to a special member of our family, our sweet and handsome Fernando,” read an Instagram tribute to the betta fish. “Fernie crossed the rainbow bridge on January 1st, and we can’t explain how much we missed seeing him during our first live shows of 2019. Fernando, thank you for always having our backs... and for always being there during the moments we hold close to our hearts. Swim in peace, little buddy.”
They also addressed his death during an episode. “We’ve noticed a few of you asking where our pet Betta fish Fernando is,” Tamera said, frowning. “You guys, I’m sad to report that over our holiday break our beloved Fernando passed away to fish heaven.”
