Denise Richards is getting candid about how she broke the news to her children about their dad’s shocking diagnosis years ago.
During Jana Kramer’s Whine Down podcast on Monday, the actress opened up about how she handled the many scandals of her ex-husband Charlie Sheen following the divorce — especially when it came to their two kids, Sami and Lola! The Two and A Half Men has had a TON of controversies over the years, so it must have been hard for Denise to navigate when something happened with their dad.
Related: Charlie’s Other Ex Has Beef With Denise — Claims She Was ‘Cut Out’ Of Show & Stiffed!
According to the Wild Things star, she sheltered them as much as possible from any news about Charlie. What helped her out a lot is that neither Sami nor Lola would search things up about either of them online! Denise said:
“They weren’t ones to Google us because we’re mom and dad. There were things that I would tell them like, ‘You might hear something at school. If you have any questions, please come to me.’ And they didn’t even ask.”
However, she couldn’t protect them from everything! There was one moment specifically when she couldn’t wait for Lola or Sami to come to her with questions and had to go to them. It was 2015 when Charlie revealed to the world that he is HIV-positive — without warning Denise first. She recalled:
“I did have to tell them, because this is where I was kind of upset with Charlie that he didn’t warn me when he came out publicly that he has HIV.”
Oof! He couldn’t have given her a heads up so she could prepare and tell their kids?! Because the news “was everywhere,” Denise didn’t want to risk someone else telling Sami and Lola before she had the chance to. She immediately picked up the kids from school, sat them down, and had a tough conversation:
“It was everywhere. I think I picked them up early from school that day because I didn’t want kids at school to tell them. I had to have a conversation about that.”
For Denise, she felt “it was hard to explain to them” what Charlie’s diagnosis meant. She didn’t get into detail about what she said during the talk, but that was the only time she had to really share some pretty serious news with the pair. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum continued:
“But that was the only time I can remember. There’s been a few things that I’ve had to have conversations with them about. But for the most part, I really tried to shelter them from a lot of stuff.”
It couldn’t have been easy at times, but it sounds like Denise did the best she could over the years! Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments.
[Image via The Kelly Clarkson Show/DoctorOz/Bravo/YouTube]
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