Denise Richards is Trying to Simplify

Denise Richards
We've been hearing about Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen drama in the tabloids for years, but when Richards decided to get her own reality TV show, "Denise Richards: It's Complicated," we learned she wasn't kidding. Between her messy, public divorce, raising her children and maintaining her status as a sex symbol, Richards' life is certainly more dramatic than the average mom.

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RIchards' personal life might be complicated, but she has a simple formula for dealing with her ex and their kids: "I'm in charge of my relationship with my girls and he's responsible for his relationship with our girls." So easy!

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Kate Gosselin
"You must have help -- accept it. It can be very difficult especially for someone like myself who likes to be in total control. That will continue until your kids are grown!" -- Kate Gosselin, "Jon & Kate Plus 8"

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Tori Spelling
Although she was often upstaged by her late pug Mimi La Rue in the past, Spelling has become a force to reckon with as she pursued entrepreneurship and stayed in the spotlight on "Tori & Dean: Inn Love," all while pregnant with her second child, Stella.

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Amy Roloff
"Those moments [on the show] don't represent the last or the next 20 years of our lives, whether we are going through the best times or the most horrible times. You almost want to say, 'Can I put a mirror in your face?'" -- Amy Roloff, "Little People, Big World"

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Michelle Duggar
"I'll put it the way my daughter, Jill, said it: 'Mama, they just don't understand or know what it's like to be in our large family and how much fun we have and how sweet is it to have these little ones that look up to us and want to be like us.'" -- Michelle Duggar of "17 Kids & Counting"

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Alex McCord
"Ultimately there's not a lot of difference between me and most other moms. We all want the best for our children, to love them, educate them and provide them with the tools needed to launch themselves successfully into the world." -- Alex McCord, The Real Housewives of New York City

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Amy Wolff
"I know I will get bigger, and I know I will have a lot of baby weight. But I also know it won't be this huge, insurmountable thing. If I had gotten pregnant six months after the show, I would have been in the head space of worrying about my weight, and being really focused on that." -- Amy Wolff, "Biggest Loser"

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NeNe Leakes
Arguably the most popular of the "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," it's not surprising that NeNe Leakes upstages her two sons with social drama and her outspoken personality. Despite the controversy, Leakes says she still makes time to help others through her organization, "The Twisted Hearts Foundation," which promotes knowledge about domestic violence in the community.

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Mommy Meerkat
These moms of "Meerkat Manor" are wilder than most of the other matriarchs on reality TV, but they manage their families with the same loving care. Dominant female Flower rose to power and led her pack, the Whiskers, for more than five years.

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Denise Richards has had a tough couple of years. Her divorce from Charlie Sheen turned into a tabloid wrestling match, a he-said/she-said of allegations about sex, drugs, and bad parenting. But recently things have calmed down for the 38-year-old mom of two; she made a short-lived appearance on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," and her reality show, "Denise Richards: It's Complicated" starts its second season on E! on Sunday, June 7th.

In this season of "It's Complicated," we'll see Richards dating, which is a tough juggling act for anyone with kids. "I think its difficult for any single parent to date," Richards tells ParentDish, "because it's not just about myself, it's about the whole family ... especially if people know who you are. I don't want to bring anyone around my children unless it's someone very serious, and that's it." Richards is also balancing parenting and her own fame in her dating life, which adds another layer of concern: "[When] people know who you are and you go on a date, it's, you know obviously you don't want people knowing until you want them to, but then also if you do private dates at your house for a private dinner or coffee or whatever, you know, you don't necessarily want your children to see."

It really is complicated!

Richards has two daughters, Sam and Lola, with ex-husband Charlie Sheen, and even though her own love life is taking off, she's not ready to talk to her girls about dating just yet. "I can't even think about boys. My daughters are 5 and not even 4. Right now they think boys are yucky and that's fine -- they can stay that way for a long time as far as I'm concerned!"

Richards has been criticized for including her children in her reality show, most vocally by ex-husband Sheen. But she has a good perspective on the relationship between what's reported in the press and what's going on in someone's home; of Jon and Kate Gosselin and their troubles, she says, "I believe that's their business. No one knows what goes on behind closed doors no matter what's been written, what's been said." The same is true for her, and for her girls.

So does Richards have any tips for simplifying life as a single mom? "If any moms have any tips for me I'll take them!" she laughs. "I think, for myself personally, I don't even know if it's about simplifying, it's just ... prioritizing what's important at that moment."

For more dish on Denise and "It's Complicated," check out Inside TV's exclusive video interview!

Comments (18)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Brandi 6-04-2009 @ 4:34PM

umm, no offense to the writer here, but that article has nothing to do with her "trying to simplify". She responds to a comment about simplifying with asking about tips from OTHER moms...I like the article but the title did not match it at all.

+Sandi 6-05-2009 @ 8:51PM

I like Denise. I think she is an amazing comedic actress (see her in the movie with Kirstie Alley and Kristen Dunst about beauty pagents) and I wish her all the best.

susan 6-05-2009 @ 10:11PM

Those kids are way too old to be sucking their thumbs.

ME 6-09-2009 @ 7:58PM

IT SHOULD be hard for her to date the little homewrecker.

caplady 6-06-2009 @ 12:46PM

Why doesn't she have her ex husband (father of her children) take them for a month or so - then she won't have to worry about having
someone coming to her home.

Debbie 6-06-2009 @ 1:38AM

I don't know much about Denise Richards and I really don't care!! I do know that she was 'supposedly' friends with Heather Locklear and immediately starts dating her husband!! With friends like that, who needs ememies!!! What a PIG!!!

EVELYN HENDRICKSON 6-06-2009 @ 2:17AM

WHY ARE THOSE GIRLS ALWAYS SUCKING THEIR THUMBS?

Recyclebabe 6-06-2009 @ 2:59AM

I have never seen those 2 little girls smile..they look scared to death and unhappy...

SimplyWhat?? 6-06-2009 @ 6:07AM

O come on - people in her position have NO problem doing what ever the heck they want to - what a stupid article

helen 6-07-2009 @ 9:19PM

I am so sick of these celebrities complaining about how difficult being a single mom is. Try doing it with no nanny, no child support, & making less than one quarter of her astronomical salary. Stop whinning!

Grey 6-08-2009 @ 11:40AM

Charlie, where are you when the girls need you to take them off the air? Ta-dah!

jz 6-07-2009 @ 11:51PM

I'm not sure why so many unhappy people post their venomous spewings in these posts. If you don't like someone.... why the heck are you reading the article (are you sadistic martyrs??) and then you
take the time out to write something... You call Denise wacked???
As for Denise, you walk a mile in her shoes. I've got to hand it to
her, she's real, she's always improving herself and growing
personally. Hollywood, once one jumps in, it's hard to just jump out, and it's a mixed bag of nuts... some good, some rotten; you then have to deal with it all. Denise didn't marry Charlie hoping the marriage would fail, nor did she expect to have him become a mean, drug addicted alchoholic and womanizer. You try dealing with a man like that and fight for your children's happiness, which doesn't come with being around an alchoholic or all of his loose women. As for her relationship with Richie, Heather discarded him before Denise began her relationship and obviously didn't take Heather's side. It happens. Heather has never taken him back. Why should a good man be overlooked. As for this article, I don't think she's complaining as much as she's explaining, in detail, according to the interviewer's questions, the things she's not crazy about. The reporter is also responsible for the questions they pose and the light they shine on the star. Reporters, these days, are playing to the audience and doing all they can to stir up controversy and get their own ratings upped. What better way, than to paint what could be read as a spoiled brat. That's not my take. Anyway, good luck Denise. Much success.

michele 6-10-2009 @ 11:40PM

I have never seen a picture of Denise Richards' girls where they were NOT sucking their thumbs! This is totally not normal ALL the time, and proof enough to me that these kids are badly stressed out and need to be out of the camera's eye as much as possible from now on. She is all smiles and her kids look SO DEPRESSED!! I have seen them the same way with their father and whatever slut he is with as well. I have a degree in Psychology and I say these kids are very troubled.

Giles 6-08-2009 @ 12:06AM

Denise is NOT a single mother, OR a star. She is married to a CAMERA. And what has she starred in beyond a tabloid divorce? Maybe if she stops pretending to be a decade younger than 38, divorces the camera, and looks for a human being she cares about instead of being preoccupied with being seen in the tabloids and on tv, the kids might be less unhappy, even if she wouldn`t.

laurie 6-08-2009 @ 5:15AM

I have a tip for her."Stop whining!"

wrenogade 6-08-2009 @ 5:41AM

SINGLE MOTHER? First of all a single mother is one who raises that child ALL BY HERSELF. No child support, no emotional support, no father in the picture! (and visa versa for single fathers). These people are DIVORCED parents. These children still have both parents (and in most cases, step parents) to help shoulder the responsibility. I am sick of people who choose to leave a marriage out of selfishness, describe themselves as "single parents". I think the term should be "selfish parent"; because anyone who describes themselves as a single parent makes a statement that the other parent is not doing their job!

Noah Lieske 6-09-2009 @ 7:19AM

Agree, you shouldn't call her "single mother". Noah Lieske

vickie 6-09-2009 @ 8:03PM

Not all people who are single parents had a choice in the matter. Some single parents were left for greener grass so be careful how you word things when you are talking about all of us.