Shaq says he spends $1K on pedicures after his mom advised him to paint his toenails: ‘I know my feet stink’

It appears Shaquille O’Neal is willing to go all the way out to pamper his feet as he recently revealed he spends $1,000 on pedicures. Per PEOPLE, the retired basketball star made the revelation on his podcast, The Big Podcast with Shaq.

The NBA champion also said he likes to go a little extra with his pedicures as he loves having “sparkles and designs” on his toenails. “I give about $1,000 because I know my feet stink, I know they’re ugly, and I like to paint them,” O’Neal, 52, said. “I paint that s— because it’s ugly and I want it to look pretty.”

The Los Angeles Lakers legend also said he started painting his toenails after his mother made that suggestion. “True story — one time I had a toenail that was torn off and I wasn’t going to play in the game,” O’Neal said. He also implied that his decision to sit the game out appeared to surprise his mother.

“I was like, I tore my toenail off, so she did something and then she put like, some red polish on the thing, and I had 40 that game,” he revealed. “So I was like, you know what, I’m just going to start painting my toenails.”

The 52-year-old also said he likes painting his toenails with “designs” when his co-hosts asked if he preferred that or “solid colors.” “I do like, sparkles and designs and all this stuff, you know, just to make it look pretty because I have ugly, stinky feet,” he stated.

O’Neal isn’t the only male celebrity who has admitted to painting his nails. This year’s number 1 pick in the NFL Draft, Caleb Williams, also revealed he does the same after he was spotted donning a silver paint on one of his fingernails at the 2024 NFL Draft.

“I paint my nails, I wear unique things,” he said on the red carpet. In a previous interview with PEOPLE, Williams also revealed he had been painting his nails before college.

“I’ve been doing it before college, but it took everybody by surprise, just because you don’t always see male athletes who play football paint their nails,” he said. “But I think it’s just another way of expression.”