Denise Richards is opening up about the highs and lows of raising children with an ex.
During a recent appearance on the “Whine Down with Jana Kramer” podcast, the 54-year-old star discussed what it was like raising her two daughters with her ex-husband, Charlie Sheen, admitting on the show that their relationship could be better.
“Truthfully, it wasn’t co-parenting. I parent my way. He parents his way, and there was no co-parenting,” she said. “I have kids with him, and I’m not really — I’m friendly with Charlie, but I wish we were friends and that we could talk all the time and be able to be there really for each other with our girls. But that’s just not the relationship we have. Maybe one day. But, I mean, right now, there’s nothing. There’s no discord between he and I, which is great.”
The former couple tied the knot in 2002 and were married for just under three years before Richards filed for divorce in March 2005, when she was pregnant with their second daughter, Lola. They welcomed their first daughter, Sami, one year prior.
Following their divorce, Sheen went on to marry Brooke Mueller from 2008 to 2011, welcoming twin sons, Bob and Max, with her in March 2009. Despite no longer being married to Sheen, Richards made it a priority to make sure her daughters had a relationship with their dad and siblings.
“I was always an advocate of wanting everything to be great and be friends and blend the family because he had two boys with his wife after me,” she continued. “I just didn’t want the girls to feel like they had to choose sides.”
She went on to say she always made the effort to invite Sheen to their daughters’ birthday parties and family holiday celebrations, explaining she “thinks it’s good for the kids to see that too.”
Although their marriage did not work out, she said she “never talked bad about” Sheen when her children were around but says “now that they’re older, they’re discovering things” from the past on their own.
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Richards and her family have recently put their lives on display in the new reality show, “Denise Richards & Her Wild Things.” Sheen appeared on an April 1 episode of the show, when he sat down to dinner with Richards and their daughter Lola, during which she shared her fears about becoming a public figure.
“I’m scared of being famous. I’m scared of what people have to say,” Lola told her parents.
“Don’t read anything,” Sheen said. “Don’t read anything about it. Because if you don’t read it, it doesn’t exist.”
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“Denise Richards & Her Wild Things” airs Tuesday nights on Bravo.
