Oscar winning actress Mo’Nique raised many an eyebrow this week when she revealed the truth about why she refers to her husband of 17 years as ‘daddy.’ 

The 55-year-old Precious star, whose real name is Monique Hicks, appeared in a podcast with Je’Niece McCullough, the daughter of late comedian Bernie Mac, in which she shared intimate details about her relationship – including the reason behind her husband Sidney Hicks’ rather bizarre nickname. 

‘My husband, my best friend, my brother, he’s had all these hats,’ the actress explained in the podcast. ‘And, a lot of black women would say, “Why do you call him Daddy?” Because he’s raising me. He’s raising me.’

‘My father probably stopped giving me what I needed when I was around 13 years old,’ she explained.

Oscar winning actress Mo’Nique, 55, raised many an eyebrow this week when she revealed the truth about why she refers to her husband of 17 years as ‘daddy’ 

The 55-year-old Precious star has been married to Sidney Hicks since 2006 – and revealed in a recent podcast interview that she refers to him openly as ‘daddy’ because he is ‘raising her’

The actress has been married to Sidney Hicks, who is also her manager, since 2006, and has openly admitted to calling him ‘daddy’ in public before.

‘So, now you got a woman that’s 13, and now I’m 35, and now I got a bunch of money, what we considered to be a bunch of money, let me just be real clear about that, and now I got this money and now, I’m taking care of everybody,’ she told the comedian. 

‘Who’s gonna check me, Boo? Who’s gonna make me grow up?’ she asked.

‘It was my husband that grew me up,’ Mo’Nique said simply. ‘And even at 55 years old, there are still times when he has to say, “C’mon, let’s talk,” and I’m grateful for that.’

She said it has made her a ‘better mother.’

‘It makes me a better friend. It makes me a better entertainer,’ she added.

 Mo’Nique said she met her now-husband when she was 14, and she has ‘never seen him have a bad day.’

‘He has never raised his voice to me now we’ve been married for 17 years,’ she said.

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The Oscar winner often talks about her relationship, previously getting candid about her open marriage arrangement to husband Sidney and why she ‘grew out of’ the idea’

The couple have been married since 2006, and share 17-year-old twin sons Jonathan and David Hicks. She also shares two sons with ex-husband Mark Jackson 

Instagram users were appalled over her explanation as to why she calls her husband ‘daddy’

The clip was posted to berniesdaughterpodcast’s Instagram page, where dumbfounded users commented on the exchange.

 ‘Sounds weird as f**k to call your husband daddy because he’s taking care of you. A husband is supposed to take care of his wife in ways a daddy can’t. Sounds disgusting,’ one appalled user said.

‘Maam!!!!! Just call him daddy cause you want to. This is cray!’ exclaimed another.

I hear you Mo. But my daddy is my daddy. And my husband is my husband,’ another added. ‘My husband do teach me stuff. He’s guided me through a lot of stuff.’

Mo’Nique and Sidney’s relationship has raised eyebrows over the years. The couple were previously in an open relationship with her husband, but have since ended that arrangement in 2015.

‘We have an agreement that we’ll always be honest, and if sex happens with another person, that’s not a deal breaker for us, that’s not something where we’ll have to say, “Oh God, we’ve got to go to divorce court because you cheated on me.” Because we don’t cheat,’ she previously said in interview with The New York Times.

In 2016 she shared that people ‘didn’t understand’ the arrangement on a podcast with Essence.

‘They thought it was about swinging and orgies, and then there were individuals who are vehement about God, and they were bringing God into their opinions. People lost their minds, and the criticism has never let up.’

Mo’Nique and Sidney share twin boys, Jonathan and David Hicks, who were born in 2005. 

Prior to Hicks, she was married to Mark Jackson from 1997 to 2001. They have two sons: Mark Eric Jackson Jr. and Shalon Calvin Jackson.