**By Gill Pringle
The actress opens up about her new TV show, her kids and how her ex Charlie Sheen is broken and can’t be fixed.**
Denise Richards reveals her private world in her new TV reality show, but she goes one step further in this interview with Woman’s Day — her most sensational in the three years since she filed for divorce from her husband Charlie Sheen.
Speaking on the eve of the launch of her new E! Channel show Denise Richards: It’s Complicated, her eyes brim with tears as she talks about the adversity she’s faced since separating from Charlie in 2005.
Striving as a single mum to raise her two young girls, Denise, 37, watched helplessly as her beloved mother Joni died last November after an 18-month battle with cancer. Today, Denise asks Woman’s Day readers to be her judge …
**You’re 37 years old. Do you worry about your age where actresses are considered past their ‘sell by date’ after 40?
** I don’t feel 37 but I’m also very realistic. I am 37! And I’m not ashamed of it. I mean, I’m sure no-one wants to get old. Who the hell wants to have their face and ass drop to the floor?! But I’m not 22; new to Hollywood and trying to be a big, big movie star. I’m 37; I have girls to raise, and that’s my first priority over anything.
**Reflecting on your early days in Hollywood, would you have done anything differently?
** I had no idea that my life would turn out like this. I did very well so young, doing movies like Starship Troopers and Wild Things, and all the stuff that came with doing Bond was amazing. So, as far as my career, I’m very happy. And then, right after I got married, and had the girls, I took time off, and wanted to. I think that when I was younger, my career was my priority. I wasn’t married; I didn’t have children so it was nothing for me to just go on location for however long it was. I didn’t have any responsibilities. There’s a sense of freedom when you’re that age but I would never trade what I have now to go back. I love being responsible and being a mum and having a home and that’s what I want in my life now.
**As your girls get older, do you look forward to getting involved in traditional things like joining the school PTA?
** I don’t know about the PTA but I’m involved in Sam’s nursery school and Lola and I go to Mummy-and-Me. I do everything that my own mum did when I was a kid; baking cookies and we have play-dates — and I play with them too, without other kids!
**You have such a sexy image, I don’t think people think of you in the kitchen, baking cookies…
**That’s the other thing I think people will be surprised at watching the show. I’m from Illinois, and I was raised very differently than living in Los Angeles. Family is very important to me and, now that my dad’s moved in, he does all the cooking and we have dinner together every single night at the same time. I get up with the girls every morning and I put them to bed every night.
**So you don’t have an army of nannies and housekeepers to help out?
** My ex says I have caretakers and 20 nannies and this and that, but that’s not true. I only have help when I’m working. I don’t want someone else raising my kids. I enjoy it. I’m up at five every day. I’m a morning person and I like to get up before the girls so I can have my first cup of coffee, check my e-mails and have that time to myself before the girls wake up.
**Charlie tried to prevent your daughters from appearing on your TV show. How do you answer the criticism that you’re exploiting them?
** We’re not on a set. I’m not driving them to a set of a TV show. We’re at home and, you know, if they’re eating their breakfast we would film it, and they don’t notice that.
**Will you encourage your girls to pursue Hollywood careers if they ask?
** I think I would wait until they’re older. I’ll cross that bridge when it comes. Right now they want to be veterinarians. They’ve never mentioned that they want to be in TV or movies. Right now it’s all about animals.
**It seems like you’ve always been attracted to the bad boys. Is this something you’re looking to change?
** You know, honestly, when I met Charlie he was not a bad boy. And Richie’s definitely not a bad boy. He’s a great dad and a good guy. It’s everyone else who says I’m attracted to those kind of guys. They were both great, otherwise I wouldn’t have married Charlie if he wasn’t nice, and Richie was a great guy.
**What do you hope for in the future?
** I honestly take one day at a time. I hope to just continue to live in the moment. I never in a million years thought I’d be 37 years old, divorced with two kids. I never thought my mother would pass away at 54 years of age. I never thought I’d be talking about the perception of me in the press three years later. So I don’t know what’s going to happen. I enjoy life. I have two beautiful healthy daughters, and I just take each day as it comes.
**And you obviously relish being a mother?
** I love them so much and I just want to be there for the girls. They’re so young and I’ll never get these years back with them.
**On your TV show we see you going on a disastrous blind date. Is it difficult to meet guys?
** It’s not hard to meet someone but its hard to date when you’re a celebrity because if you’re out to dinner with someone and someone takes your picture, you’re automatically in a ‘relationship’, and being a single mum if I have private dates at home, you know, and I don’t want to bring someone home to my girls. So it’s very hard. It’s hard being a single mum dating but let alone when people know who you are and people can take your picture and put a label on it. It’s hard.
**As a single mum, do you now look for different qualities in a man?
** Absolutely. I definitely want a man who’s good with kids because we’re a package deal.
**And it’s always sad when a father isn’t there to share all those special moments with their children— like their first word or their first step…
** In the beginning, when I was first separated, it was sad to me that I didn’t have their dad there to see them walk for the first time or go to different things but I would never have gotten that with their dad. So to me now it’s normal, and I’m glad that I’m there. But they also had my mum and my dad who were very close to them so they had them instead. And they have a lot of love within my family.
**What’s your favourite times with your daughters?
** I love when they first wake up in the morning. Usually they’re in a very good mood. I love when they first get up, I love swimming with them, I love playing with their dolls with them. They love to go shopping, and they’re fun and they get all dressed up with their purses. They’re very girly — they love coming to photo shoots and playing with the make-up. They’re very girly girls. I love doing anything with them. They’re a lot of fun.
**You’re in great shape. What’s your fitness routine?
** I do Pilates. For my body type, I’ve found that’s the best work-out. And also the elliptical for cardio. I have an elliptical machine at home, and also I have a Pilates instructor and a Pilates machine. When I’m really consistent, I do Pilates four or five times a week. I found that after having two babies, that was the best exercise for getting back into shape.
**You got back into shape instantly after both your girls.
** Look at my dad — he’s so thin! It runs in my family.
**What’s your beauty routine?
** I use Dr Lancer’s skin-care products. And I use sunscreen every day. I find that really helps.
**Being a single mum leaves little time for a good night’s sleep. How do you cope?
** I’ve learned to function on very little sleep. When you have two kids its hit or miss. Every day is different. I used to need eight hours sleep but I’ve learned to function on less. I have George, the Chihuahua, on my bed sometimes — but we can’t have all of them on the bed. There’s too many.
**What kind of feedback have you had from your show?
** I think everyone is surprised and most people say they had no idea how normal I am. And they all love my dad.
For more of this interview, see this week’s Woman’s Day (on sale June 16).
