In a case of a star not being “just like us,” Bradley Cooper gets major props from his ex-girlfriend, Irina Shayk, for being a good, “hands-on” father simply because he didn’t ask for a nanny to help him care for their 4-year-old daughter while on vacation.
“He’s a full-on, hands-on dad — no nanny,” Shayk, 35, said about the actor, 46, in an interview with HIGHStyle magazine. “Lea went on holiday with him for almost two weeks (and) I didn’t call them once.”
OK, so Cooper would have been on his own as a single dad for what the Russian model said was a nearly two-week vacation to an unknown destination. That means he wouldn’t have someone immediately available to provide childcare for their daugher, Lea De Seine. That means it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to sleep in or grab some “me time,” as in going for a spa treatment if they were staying at a luxury resort.
Nonetheless, Shayk makes it sounds like a “no-nanny” rule counts as a major hardship or sacrifice. It’s likely that there are a lot of single fathers out there in the world, who aren’t rich movie stars or who don’t have nannies to provide backup care when they take their kids on vacation, but these fathers manage on their own even when taking multiple kids on vacation. Single moms also have to been known to manage on their own, too
Of course, smart single parents might arrange to vacation with family, so that there is a ready source of grandparents or siblings who can help out or look after the kids while the parent seeks out some “me time.”
However much Shayk might be talking from a place of privilege about Cooper, her praise of her ex-boyfriend is a sign of the extent to which they remain on good terms.
Shayk and the “A Star Is Born” actor and director went through a high-profile breakup in 2019 after four years together. During the split, Shayk became a tabloid fixture, mostly because of Cooper’s closeness to his co-star, Lady Gaga. She’s remained in the tabloids over rumors that she’s now dating Kanye West, though Shayk wouldn’t comment on the rumors in her new interview.
Meanwhile, Shayk said she and Cooper committed to jointly raising their daughter. She insists that she and Cooper, who live a few blocks apart from each other in New York City’s West Village, also are on the same page about discipline and other parenting challenges.
“Me and her father are very strict,” Shayk said. “When she finishes eating, she gets up from the table, takes her plate, says ‘thank you.’ Without ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ she’s not getting anything.”
On the other hand, Shayk acknowledges that Lea is indulged, making it challenge to send a message if she misbehaves. “She has so many toys,” Shayk said. “I had one doll, and I still have this doll. Blonde, blue eyes, big Russian doll. My grandma used to make clothes for her.”
In previous interviews, Shayk has talked about the challenges she faces as a single mother while also trying earn a living and manage her career as a model and fashion designer.
She told British Vogue in March 2020: “Trust me, there are days I wake up and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what to do, I’m falling apart.’”
Irina Shayk: Bradley Cooper’s such a good dad he doesn’t need a nanny for vacation