SHERRI SHEPHERD

Sherri Shepherd recently trudged through the rain to the View studio only to find she'd forgotten her ID — and the security guard didn't recognize her. ''I was going, When is this celebrity thing going to kick in?'' That regular-gal quality has turned the 40-year-old former legal secretary and comic into the daytime chatfest's newest star. Charged with the task of keeping viewers interested in the post-Rosie View, Shepherd succeeded by simply being her unvarnished self. She won't apologize for keeping things real. ''I have a lot of life experience. What I have to say matters.'' —Jennifer Armstrong

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