Baby, this is Keke Palmer.
That, however, didn’t stop college student Cole Smith from shooting his shot at the 32-year-old star.
Smith recently posted a TikTok video, where he told followers he watched Palmer on “Hot Ones,” and noticed that she and host Sean Evans had some flirty banter going on.
At one point, Evans, 39, even locked lips with the actress after she confronted him about a 2023 interview in which he admitted to having a crush on her.
Smith was shocked to find out the “True Jackson, VP” alum was single, and immediately decided to enter the conversation.
“I’m throwing my hat in the ring,” he explained in the video. “I thought you were married this entire time.”
“Sure, Sean Evans is a great guy, but wouldn’t you rather be with a college student that forgot to shave this morning? I mean look at that scruff,” the college student continued.
As for what else Smith brings to the table, he teased that he has Nutri-Grain bars he can offer her. He noted that despite being 11 years younger than her, age is just a number to him.
“Did you know that Sean Evans doesn’t even buy those wings himself?” quipped Smith. “Like his team does that. If you’re thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, Sean Evans has all these wings.’ No, he didn’t do that.”
The TikToker also isn’t fazed by Palmer’s celebrity status, as he was a background actor on “Law & Order” himself during Season 24.
“Just let me know, I have, like, Skype,” Smith said.
Fans flocked to the comments section to praise the young man for putting himself out there.
“He called her ‘Ms. Keke Palmer.’ That’s respect,” one user wrote while a second chimed in, “A polite and respectful offer🤣.”
And it turns out that Smith’s message reached Palmer.
“How you doing young man?” Palmer began in her own TikTok video response. “I heard all the nice things you said about me, and you’re so bold for doing so. I was kinda gagged when I found out I was 11 years older than you. That means when you were born, I was already winning spelling bees. That means, when you were learning how to talk, I was already jumping rope.”
“The point is, while I’m open for a little swirl or two…the truth is, I’m not ready to be a cougar, I’m not ready just yet,” she teased. “But if I was, you’d be the first one I was calling.”
Smith couldn’t believe the “Nope” actress replied to him.
“I started freaking out,” he told People. “Ms. Palmer is a legend for responding. Go see her new movie!”
Palmer, meanwhile, has been single since her split from Darius Jackson in 2023. The pair started dating in 2021.
A year later, the “Barbershop 2” star gushed over making their relationship public.
“I just think [this] was a moment in time in my life where I really stepped into this kind of boss behavior [of doing] whatever the hell I want to do,” Palmer told Bustle.
“This is the happiest I’ve ever felt with someone. So why would I go out of my way to hide this person? That’s a lot more work than just living in my life and being in my life. You know what I’m saying?”
In December 2022, Palmer announced she and Jackson were expecting their first child together while hosting “Saturday Night Live.”
“I am so excited, guys,” she told the audience, showing off her bare baby bump. “I’m gonna be a mom!”
The two welcomed son Leo, 2, in February 2023, but five months later, Jackson came under fire for publicly shaming Palmer for wearing a sheer dress to Usher’s Las Vegas residency.
“It’s the outfit tho.. you a mom,” Jackson responded to video footage of Palmer being serenaded by the “Yeah!” performer, 46.
He defended himself against the backlash, writing, “We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is.”
“This is my family & my representation,” he added. “I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case.”
The two called it quits in October that year, with Palmer filing for sole custody of Leo in early November. She was later granted temporary sole custody.
The Nickelodeon alum also filed a restraining order against Jackson, accusing him of abuse throughout their two-year relationship.
He denied her allegations.
In June, Palmer revealed why Leo was unable to see Jackson on Father’s Day.
“We celebrated with my dad,” she told People. “His dad, Darius, is in the military, so he’s not able to be as around, but [he’s] making sure he’s getting what he needs to get and doing good for our son.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
