WNBA star Sophie Cunningham has never exactly been known for keeping things buttoned up—but even by her standards, this one caught people off guard.

During the Jan. 19 episode of Show Me Something, Cunningham casually dropped a sentence that briefly broke the internet and completely stunned her cohost West Wilson:

“I have herpes!”

Pause. Rewind. Clip it. Panic.

The 29-year-old Indiana Fever guard immediately clarified—well, kind of—explaining she used someone else’s ChapStick and ended up with a cold sore. Then, in true Sophie Cunningham fashion, she doubled down by leaning into her webcam to show the swollen red spot on her upper lip and announcing:

“So don’t kiss me.”

Important detail: she was not even remotely upset about it.

“I don’t care!” Cunningham said, proving once again that shame does not exist in her vocabulary.

She later walked it back slightly, blaming dry air, constant travel, and questionable ChapStick-sharing decisions rather than any romantic misadventures. Between trips to Missouri, workouts in Indiana, and recording the podcast remotely from Houston, her lips apparently had enough.

“And I didn’t kiss anybody!” she emphasized, presumably for the benefit of both listeners and her group chat.

As expected, the internet had opinions.

Some fans loved the unfiltered honesty.
“How does the honesty somehow make it better?” one asked.
“Damn, Sophie, that’s one way to keep it real,” another said.
“More athletes should be this real!” wrote a third.

Others, however, were less amused.
“Shouldn’t this be private?” one commenter asked.
“Why does she feel the need to tell the world?” another wondered—apparently unfamiliar with Sophie Cunningham’s brand.

To clear things up: Cunningham was almost certainly referring to HSV-1, the strain of herpes that commonly causes cold sores. According to the World Health Organization, about 64% of people under 50 worldwide already have it, even if they’ve never had visible symptoms. In other words, congratulations—you probably know several people who have it. You might be one of them.

Some fans seemed to think she was talking about HSV-2, which is more commonly associated with genital herpes and affects about 13% of people aged 15–49. But nothing Cunningham described suggested that, unless HSV-2 now spreads via communal ChapStick (it does not).

Medical experts note that HSV-1 flare-ups can be triggered by stress, travel, dry air, UV exposure, and basically everything involved in being a professional athlete who lives out of a suitcase. So yes—herpes, but make it logistical.

In the end, Cunningham managed to turn a cold sore into a viral moment, a public health lesson, and yet another reminder that she is aggressively herself at all times.

Say what you want—but at least now you know not to borrow her ChapStick.