Sally Jessy Raphael Turns 90 and Tells PEOPLE About Her Fabulous Birthday Plans (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Sally Jessy Raphael celebrates her 90th birthday in February 2025.Photo:Jason Fine

Jason Fine

Sally Jessy Raphaelis 90!

The daytime talk show icon celebrated her 90th birthday, which falls on Feb. 25, with loved ones over the weekend, telling PEOPLE what it feels like to enjoy the milestone moment.

“I had a wonderful birthday brunch this weekend with some of my favorite friends and family,” Raphael shares.

“They kept saying, ‘We can’t believe you’re 90!’ I told them to stop reminding me, because I certainly don’t feel it!” she adds with a laugh. “Now I’m off on a girls’ trip to Paris to continue celebrating!”

In a photo from her brunch celebration, the unforgettable television personality poses with her two grandsons, Max, 29, and Kyle, 23.

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Sally Jessy Raphael with grandsons Max (L) and Kyle (R).Jason Fine

The Sally Jessy Raphael Show, later shortened toSally, began in 1983, covering human interest subjects and hard-hitting news items, but it devolved in its later years into daily stories about feuding relationships or sexual exploits in order to compete with the shock tactics dominating the competition in the 1990s.

In a 2016 episode ofOprah: Where Are They Now?, Raphael explained how unhappy she was about the shift in content.

Raphael proved herself to be as feisty as ever, ribbing a formerSallyshow staffer — who is now an executive producer onSherri— for her height, and commiserating with Shepherd about their own diminutive statures.

When Shepherd noted that Raphael still holds staff reunions decades after her show went off the air, the veteran host joked that it was because “we like to drink!”

“Well, there has to be a reason for a reunion,” she quipped.

source: people.com