Toni Braxton reveals why she was nervous to guest star on The Neighborhood season finale

“I was fine until they said, ‘Action,'” Braxton tells Entertainment Weekly.

Even Toni Braxton gets nervous.

After more than 35 years of performing, the “Un-Break My Heart” singer reveals that she still actually got butterflies right before she filmed her guest-starring role in The Neighborhood season 6 finale. “I’m going to be honest, and I’m not going to deny it — I was nervous,” Braxton tells Entertainment Weekly.

The singer plays herself in the episode based on the true story of how cast member Marcel Spears’ first child was almost born at a Beyoncé concert. The finale swaps in Braxton for Beyoncé, and dramatizes the story as Marty’s (Spears) pregnant co-parent Courtney’s (Skye Townsend) water breaks at the concert right before Braxton goes onstage.

“What made me so nervous was because we were in this sprinter [van], literally, in this tight confined space,” Braxton reveals. “I do feel a little tight sometimes when I’m in elevators and tight spaces. And I was nervous because we were filming — I was fine until they said, ‘Action,’ and I was like, ‘Ooh, a little bit of butterflies here.’ But they easily went away.”

She laughs at how some people might be surprised to hear that a professional performer like herself still gets stage fright.

“But I actually do!” she says. “When I go on stage, I’m nervous for about five to seven minutes and then after that seven minutes, it starts to subside. That’s always a sign to me that this is that good adrenaline that you want.”

Braxton and The Neighborhood star-producer Cedric the Entertainer are “old friends” because their kids dated in the past, so when he asked her to guest star in the finale, she immediately said yes. “I’ve been a fan of the show, but my brother especially loves the show, so he was more amped about it than I was,” she admits. And when she read the script, she thought her role was “brilliant.”