Keke Palmer dreams of a big family — but only with the right person.
“If it’s the right person and I find my match, especially biologically in the right amount of time, y’all might see me running around here with 10 kids,” Palmer, 33, said during the Tuesday, October 13, episode of the “Friends Keep Secrets” podcast. “I want a big family.”
The Password host is already a mom to son Leo, 3, with ex Darius Jackson. The pair split in 2023 after nearly two years of dating.
“Me and my son’s dad, we dated for about a year and a half, maybe even a little bit less. It was like a little love story,” she said on Tuesday. “And I was very much so knowing that I wanted a kid. You know what I mean? I felt that he would also be a good dad.”
Palmer continued, “I think for me, one of the big things with having kids has always been like, I think as a woman, it’s like, you got to want the kid, period, regardless of the situation with the guy. Because this is your baby, this is your responsibility. I was 28, turning 29, and I was like, ‘Now’s the time where I would feel comfortable with this,’ and I would always go, ‘Worst-case scenario if we don’t work out, how will I feel about this decision?’ So I decided to have my kid, and we didn’t work out.”
In November 2023, news broke that the Pickup star had requested a restraining order against Jackson, claiming that she had security footage from an incident in which he “trespassed” into her home and “threatened” her. He allegedly lunged toward Palmer before “striking” her and “throwing” her over a couch.
Palmer was granted a temporary restraining order at the time, with Jackson being ordered to stay 100 yards away from both her and their child. The order was later dropped after the exes attended mediation. Palmer and Jackson ultimately moved to joint custody of their son and have remained amicable since.
“I’m so proud of him and happy for him,” Palmer told People of her ex in October 2024. “I feel very at ease now knowing things are under control.”
Palmer hasn’t been in any public relationships since Jackson, revealing on Tuesday that she “works a lot” and spends much of her time with family, so she hasn’t had many opportunities to date. However, she did share what she’s looking for in a man.
“I love personality. I need you to just be also not too cool with it,” she explained. “I mean, if he got a real dope personality, I mean, if he’s got me cackling, if he’s got me feeling good … if I’m in his arms and I’m feeling safe … oh man, he got it.”
Palmer said she’s even open to dating someone who is her polar opposite.
“It doesn’t need to be we both coming in hot like that. I’m cool with it, but you can still be quiet and a little bit reserved and have a big personality,” she explained. “You may just not always show with everybody. I do think there has to be some balance there.”
The actress also doesn’t mind if her partner is not in the entertainment industry — but they do need to have some sense of ambition in whatever career they choose.
“We’re in our 30s; we have to have figured out something,” she concluded.
