We love to see healthy examples of what co-parenting can look like, don’t we folks? It’s not easy, and every couple is different, but when two parents who are no longer together can create a functional relationship for the sake of their kids—well, it’s just grand. Take Irina Shayk and her ex, Bradley Cooper, for example.

These two are doing it right!


In a new interview with ELLE, Shayk opens up with what Bradley Cooper is like as a dad to their four-year-old daughter, Lea De Seine. Spoiler alert: The A Star Is Born star is a really good one. The couple broke up in 2019, but that didn’t alter how they handle their number one priority: their child.

“He’s a full-on, hands-on dad—no nanny. Lea went on holiday with him for almost two weeks [and] I didn’t call them once,” says Shayk. Earlier this year, she told ELLE that she doesn’t label her relationship with Cooper as “co-parent,” but described how they parent their daughter—and it seems pretty darn healthy and functional.

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“I never understood the term co-parenting. When I’m with my daughter, I’m 100 percent a mother, and when she’s with her dad, he’s 100 percent her dad,” she said at the time. “Co-parenting is parenting.”

Shayk, who grew up in a small village near the border of Kazakhstan, implements some of her Russian values when it comes to parenting Lea, and Cooper is totally on board. They both know their daughter is growing up with immense privilege, and Shayk knows what it’s like to have nothing.

“Me and her father are very strict,” she explains. “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. It’s hard, because she has so many toys. I had one doll, and I still have this doll. Blonde, blue eyes, big Russian doll. My grandma used to make clothes for her.”

“I always explain, ‘Look, this is my doll,” she continues. “I had only one.’ Or sometimes, ‘You have this candy. I used to have candy only for Christmas.'”

It’s refreshing to hear celebrities acknowledge their privilege and show gratitude for it, especially when it comes to how they raise their kids. Kudos to Irina Shayk and Bradley Cooper for showing us peaceful co-parenting can be done.