A good partnership. Irina Shayk opened up about how she and ex Bradley Cooper have approached raising their 5-year-old daughter, Lea.
During an interview with V Magazine, which was published on Saturday, November 26, Shayk, 36, gushed about how having a child changed her life.
“Being a mom is one of the most amazing things ever,” she shared. “I’ve never imagined that I would enjoy it and love it so much. I feel like there is no better kind of love for anyone in this world, but the love for your child. It’s just very special.”
The model detailed the hands-on approach she developed with Cooper, 47, when it comes to looking after Lea, saying, “You know, we don’t have a nanny, so sometimes [when my friends suggest] dinner or a concert, they always say, ‘We know what Irina is going to say, ‘We have no nanny.’ They say it’s my saving line. But we choose not to have a nanny.”
The actor and Shayk originally started dating in 2015 and welcomed their first child two years later. The couple split in June 2019 but have continued to stay on friendly terms as they shifted their focus to coparenting.
While reflecting on motherhood, the Russia native explained how her commitment to her career has changed. “Just being a mom, I’ve learned how to prioritize my time,” Shayk added. “How to choose my jobs and always remember that family is the most important thing. That’s how you keep going.”
Shayk noted she hopes that her daughter will develop the same work ethic as the exes.
“I also don’t want to lose myself, as I love working,” she continued. “I remember one day my daughter came back from kindergarten and she goes ‘Oh, you’re going to work? I want you to stay.’ And she starts crying and I said ‘Do you see that we have lights on in the house and we have food [on the table]? That’s why mommy and daddy have to go to work.’ I want to raise a woman and teach her how my grandmother and my mother taught me, where you have to work hard.”
According to Shayk, it is important to set boundaries with Lea while she is still young. “You can’t give her access to certain things [in order] for her to understand that you need to work hard to get something in your life,” she detailed. “[After that], then I said ‘Look, mama is going to buy you a present but if she doesn’t work, we don’t have money [to buy it].’ And she goes ‘OK, mama, go to work.'”
Shayk also offered a rare glimpse into her daughter’s personality, saying, “You know, my daughter has no filter. I remember this Halloween when I was dressed up as Bettie Page, she looked at me and goes ‘No, take it off. It doesn’t work.’ “I kind of feel like she keeps me grounded because she says what she thinks with no filter. I love it.”
The runway model’s insight into her personal life comes after a source opened up to Us Weekly about Shayk and Cooper’s friendly dynamic. “Irina and Bradley have been getting more and more flirty with their correspondence and their time together,” the insider revealed earlier this month.
The source said that Shayk “wants Bradley back in her life” and that her friends “think they’ll get back together” in the future.
