Celebrities' Most Candid Quotes About Single Parenthood

Getting real. The lives of celebrities and their kids often seem glamorous, but many famous parents can relate to the struggles of single parenthood. Some have even spoken candidly about their own experiences with being single parents in the hopes of making others feel less alone on the matter.

Take Kim Kardashian, for example, who made headlines in May 2023 when she admitted to crying over the “chaos” of being a single mom following her divorce from Kanye West. During an episode of the “On Purpose with Jay Shetty” podcast, Kim said, “It has been the most challenging thing. There are nights I cry myself to sleep. Like, holy s–t, this f–king tornado in my house. Like, what just happened?”

Kim shares four kids, North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm West, with ex Kanye. The Kardashians star said it’s “really f–king hard” to be a mom of four, but it’s also “the most rewarding job in the entire world.”

There’s also Andy Cohen, who is a single dad to two kids, Benjamin Allen and Lucy Eve, both born via surrogate. Andy released a book about his parenting experiences, titled The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up, on May 9, 2023. Ahead of the release, the Watch What Happens Live host chatted with Today’s Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb about single parenthood.

“I want to be everything for them. As a single parent, there is the feeling of ‘I need to be there’ and I’m always kicking myself for time not spent with them and trying to dissect what it all means and seeking out parent friends for advice,” he said. “But I wouldn’t change it for the world, by the way.”

While Keke Palmer is not a single mom herself — she shares son Leodis Andrellton Jackson with boyfriend Darius Jackson — she did praise single parents just a few days after they welcomed their son in March 2023. The Nope star took to Instagram with a candid video in which she spoke about her realization that “it takes a village” to raise a child.

“I just came on here to say, if you’re a single parent, pull out your cake,” Keke said. “Matter of fact, clip off your angel wings because I don’t know how you guys are doing it. And I really don’t want this to sound like pandering, or something like this, because I know there’s a million and one reasons why somebody wants to be a single parent or has become a single parent.”

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Keke went on to say that it’s a “privilege” to have a village around her to help raise her son because not everyone has that.

“I just want anybody out there that’s a single parent that’s been doing this — friends of mine, people that I don’t know, family members of mine — really in my heart, it brings tears to my eyes,” she added. “I am just truly, profoundly impressed.”

Keep scrolling to read more of celebrities’ candid quotes on single parenthood.

Kim Kardashian

Kim admitted that she sometimes cries herself to sleep over the “chaos” of being a single parent during an appearance on Jay Shetty’s podcast in May 2023.

“It has been the most challenging thing. There are nights I cry myself to sleep. Like, holy s–t, this f–king tornado in my house. Like, what just happened?” she said, adding that it’s “really f–king hard” but “rewarding” to be mom to North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm West.

Addison Timlin

Addison Timlin is raising daughters Ezer and Dolores as a single mom following her split from husband Jeremy Allen White. In a lengthy Instagram caption on Mother’s Day in May 2023, Addison admitted that co-parenting is “not how I pictured it.”

“It is so f–king hard. It is all out covered in s–t crying on the floor kick you in the shins screaming with no sound coming out hard. It’s not the natural order of things. … But just like everything with motherhood the lows are demolished by the staggering heights. To live with young children is an eyes wide open, wondrous and joyful place to be, it’s to be surrounded by a daily expression of their authentic selves and I wonder if without their example I would have been able to do the same,” she wrote.

Andy Cohen

While promoting his book The Daddy Diaries on Today on May 8, Andy spoke candidly about learning to be a parent to his kids, Benjamin Allen and Lucy Eve.

Keke Palmer

Keke welcomed son Leodis with her boyfriend Darius in March 2023. While she’s not a single parent herself, the Nope star praised single parents in an Instagram video a few days after her son’s birth.

Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson gained primary custody of kids River Rose and Remington Alexander following her divorce from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock in March 2022. In December that year, Kelly bonded with Jewel on The Kelly Clarkson Show over holiday plans as single moms.

“My ex actually has my kids every Thanksgiving as well. It’s not, like, my favorite holiday, and it is for his family, so I was like, ‘Cool,’” the American Idol alum said. “It was so weird because you’ve always had a kid there. And then all of the sudden, you’re alone, and you’re like, at first, it’s weird, and then you’re like, ‘Okay… I can do things.’ It’s kind of incredible. You do get a little me-time.”

Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling is a single mom to daughter Katherine Swati and son Spencer Avu. She has kept the biological father of her children private. During a September 2022 appearance on Meghan Markle’s “Archetypes” podcast, Mindy revealed that she gets “vulnerable” when talking about her children having a father around.

“The idea of like, ‘Why not me? Why am I not the person that got married?’ I think that’s harder to talk about,” she said. “I’m still examining it. It makes me emotional. … I do know that that would be so valuable for my kids, you know, that they have a dad. It wasn’t our lot, our family’s lot in life, and I do think about it with wistfulness and then also fear what will they think when they get older?”