While serving as a guest host of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ciara conquered one of her biggest fears. The Grammy-winning artist joined fellow singer Normani on the show and came face-to-face with a trio of spiders.
“It’s Dec. 30, and this year has been about conquering fears for me. Now, one fear I still have is spiders,” Ciara said before taking on the challenge.
Normani, who is just as afraid of insects, revealed a disgusted expression when Ciara shared her idea.
"Your song is called the 'Wild Side.' So right now you're gonna help me take a walk on the wild side," Ciara told her friend. "And meet some spiders."
Normani remained apprehensive as the guest host explained her idea.
"Oh God. You know I don't do spiders," she said.
The spider wrangler, Josh, proceeded to unveil the insects on the set.
"I got some spiders for you. Your favorite," he said. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."
Josh first took out a baby tarantula and placed it in the hands of Ciara as she feared for her life.
"I'm doing it," the artist said as the insect crawled up her arms.
Normani also tried to conquer her fear by gently petting the spider.
"We just did it," Ciara said after the duo completed the first challenge.
Josh pulled out a full-grown spider after the artists managed to handle the two smaller insects. Ciara appeared to be braver when facing the giant spider.
"We already did the first one," she said. "We can do this."
Executive producer Stephen "tWitch" Boss also joined the two women and conquered his fear, allowing the spider to crawl on his hands. The spider, however, jumped off the producer's hands a few seconds later, causing the women to scream.
"That wasn't me. It jumped off," Boss said.
Normani also shared a heartwarming moment with Ciara on Ellen. The "Wild Side" singer expressed her appreciation for Ciara, crediting her for helping her grow as a musician and a woman.
"I've always felt like representation was so key and being a little girl in my grandmother's living room learning the '1, 2 Step' and 'Goodies.' Literally, the earliest memories that I have, you were a part of that," Normani said. "You really helped shape the artist and the woman that I felt like I could be. You really opened my mind to those possibilities."
Speaking with ET during the 2021 BET Soul Train Awards, Normani said she's happy to pay homage to the artists that inspired her.
"They gave me the opportunity to be the Black girl that I am today and the Black artist and woman that I’ve evolved into," she told ET. "Them giving me representation at an early age for me to be able to, when I was 4 or 5 years old, tell my mom and my dad, 'I wanna be like Janet [Jackson]. I wanna dance like Ciara. I wanna be like Beyoncé.' What I’m seeing on the television is who I wanna be and it really opened my mind to the possibilities of who I've had the opportunity of becoming, and for me that means absolutely everything."
