Dancing With the Stars alum Kym Johnson and husband Robert Herjavec have their hands full with their 5-year-old twins — and there’s nothing like a little bit of healthy competition between Hudson and Haven to keep the reality star parents on their toes.
“We sort of divide and conquer,” Johnson, 47, exclusively told Us Weekly of her and Herjavec’s parenting tactics with their little ones. “I think having twins as well, they’re constantly in competition with each other.”
Johnson, who’s starring in Lifetime’s new TV movie Hunting Housewives, explained that every morning the couple tries to get the kids to start their day bright and early with a learning activity — and the “struggle” is real.
“We have the kids doing Kumon, which is a learning program, but you have to do it every single morning,” Johnson said of the 6:37 a.m. routine. “Yeah, it is a struggle. They want to get it done faster than the other one. I’m like, ‘It’s not a competition,’” she said, noting it’s become a parenting challenge to “make them realize that not everything is a competition with each other.”
The former Dancing With the Stars pro, who married 61-year-old Herjavec in 2016, told Us that despite the competitions, her kids are attached at the hip.
“We’ve got separate bedrooms, but they don’t want to be away from each other. It’s sweet. I know. Which is so cute,” Johnson shared, confessing that the twins’ bedtime bond does have its downside. “They end up coming into our bed, so that’s been a bit of a parenting challenge. We were so good when they were little of having them sleep in their rooms, but now they’ve come in the middle of the night.”
Johnson admitted that she and Herjavec have “gotten into this terrible habit, we’ve given in and that’s been not great.”
Even with the sleepless nights, Johnson is also embracing the parenting wins and every moment while her kids are still young, including their latest passions.
“We went skiing actually over the Christmas holidays. I don’t really ski very well, but the kids both took lessons and that was a win, getting them on the slopes,” she said. “And they actually were flying down green runs, going down the whole thing.”
Johnson added with a laugh, “They were great. I mean, they’re not far from the ground, so the center of gravity is quite low.”
She noted that the twins, who were born in April 2018, have “really coming into their own,” revealing, “They’ve got such funny personalities.”
Johnson shared that Hudson “loves to sing” and wants to become a Kidz Bop singer. “They love to watch those music videos, and he’s like, ‘I want to be in Kidz Bop.’ So I’m like, ‘Well, you’ve got to take lessons, singing and acting and stuff,’” she told Us. “So he’s taking singing lessons.”
Hudson is also into soccer and tae kwon ko while his sister, Haven, appears to be following in her mom’s footsteps.
“She’s a great dancer and she’s good at gymnastics and a great singer,” Johnson gushed. “We want them to have a great childhood and not put them into anything until they really want to do it. Like I just have them try lots of different things.”
Like her children, Johnson has become a jack of all trades after exiting DWTS in 2017. The Australia native has started to dabble in acting, most recently as Joli Symons in Lifetime’s Hunting Housewives.
“It’s basically the ultimate girls’ trip gone terribly wrong. My character [has] got a very funny sense of humor. She’s a bit of a princess,” Johnson teased of her character, who she noted also has “a bit of depth to her.”
The actress added that the movie, which also stars Denise Richards, Melyssa Ford and NeNe Leakes, has “a bit of girl power” to it and a nod to the beloved Real Housewives franchise.
“It’s very funny and campy,” Johnson said, calling all of her castmates “great actors” whom she “bonded” with during lunch breaks. “Denise is a huge actress and she’s great. She’s the ultimate pro. She was so great on set,” she gushed.
Johnson recalled filming a campfire scene with Richards, 53, that had her on the edge of her seat. “[Denise] had to get really teary and talking about her relationship, and I was sitting there and she started her little monologue, and I got so engaged in her performance that I completely forgot my line,” she told Us. “I was like, ‘Oh, wow, she’s really good.’ She just drew me in. It was so natural. I learned a lot from working with her.”
Hunting Housewives airs on Lifetime Saturday, March 9, at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Andrea Simpson
