10 Celebs Who Ditched Hollywood To Be Mamas (& 10 Who Hired Nannies)
We never really expect celebrities to leave Hollywood because they have kids. We've seen them in many movies over the years and we assume that they will still follow their career paths even though they are starting families. But surprisingly there are a lot of celebrities that do just that. They decide they don't want to be away from their kids or have them raised in the spotlight so they simply just walk away.
Then there are the other celebrity moms who love the work that they do and they couldn't imagine walking about from their careers. They want it all, their families as well as a successful career. It's not a bad thing, of course. These career-driven moms have decided to hire nannies so that they can have it all.
Whether they decided to leave Hollywood or whether they hired a nanny, these women have their own stories as to why they chose what they did. Check out these 10 celebs who gave up Hollywood to be mommas, plus 10 who hired nannies. After all, it's impossible to be everywhere at once.
20 Ditched Hollywood: Sarah Michelle Gellar Went Part Time
Sarah Michelle Gellar walked away from Hollywood when she started having children with Freddie Prinze Jr, the man she has been married to for the past 17 years. She was at the height of her career in the '90s when she married him. She was the star of the hit TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and she starred in movies such as I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scooby-Doo.
"It was a cultural phenomenon, but the hours were insane," she said, as E! News reports. "I could barely make it home to bed."
Sarah made it a rule to be at home more than work, even coming into work later and leaving earlier, the site adds.
19 Hired A Nanny: Kim Kardashian Has An Empire
We could never imagine Kim Kardashian ever retiring so that she could be at home with the kids. She has become a household name and she has an empire to run. She has three children with Kanye West and also a bunch of nannies to help her keep everything in order. We rarely see the nannies and they are never presented on her social media. She prefers people to assume that she has family or friends helping her out.
Radar Online reports KimYe have a team of nannies on call around at the clock, and each one makes a salary of approximately $100,000.
18 Ditched Hollywood: Poppy Montgomery Wanted Some Time
Poppy was working really hard on the TV series Without A Trace but when it ended, she decided to take a break from Hollywood.
“I had just had my son. I had been away so much for the first year of his life. I needed to take the time and actually be like mommy for a minute,” Montgomery shared with USA Today. But she also revealed that being a stay-at-home mom was “more challenging than anything I've ever done at work." She added, "I can do a 20-hour day on set easier than I can do a full mommy day without a break… But I loved it.”
17 Hired A Nanny: Jessica Alba Praises Her Nanny
Jessica Alba is someone who walked away from Hollywood to be an entrepreneur instead. She has a nanny who helps her make things work and she can't say enough good things about her. She also helped her nanny, Connie, promote her childcare book.
"I'd like to introduce y'all to a very special person," Alba captured the pic of her, Hayes and Connie, on social media. “It truly takes a village to raise kiddos- whether it's your blood family or chosen family. I am so thankful for Connie who has been there for me and now she is sharing her wealth of knowledge with all of you with her new book."
16 Ditched Hollywood: Kyra Sedgwick Just Wanted To Be Home
Kyra Sedgwick had a successful career in Hollywood when she decided to have children with her famous husband Kevin Bacon. Kyra wanted to raise her two children by being home with them.
"[Your children] are the first thing you think about in the morning and the last thing you think about before falling asleep," she told Redbook. She added, "And suddenly, you're fired!," referring to the empty-nest syndrome, since both her kids are grown up and have left the house.
15 Hired A Nanny: Jennifer Garner Needs Some Help
Jennifer Garner actually took a step back from Hollywood and allowed her husband Ben Affleck to go to work. She didn't completely leave Hollywood but in 2009 after she filmed Ghosts of Girlfriend's Past, she definitely cut back significantly on projects.
She is divorced now and seems to be returning to Hollywood with the big-budget movie, Peppermint. She told The Daily Mail in 2018 that she took six months off acting because being a mom to three kids "knocks you flat on your [butt]."
14 Ditched Hollywood: Alicia Silverstone Wants To Save The Environment
Alicia Silverstone was another actress that was super popular in the '90s and early 2000s. She was in the thriller Crush which was her big break movie and then, of course, the classic Clueless. She has peeked back into Hollywood from time to time, but for the most part, she left to raise her kids.
"I can happily have a husband and a child and a life, and I get to contribute in a really meaningful way to the world and I also get to be an actress. And that's a wonderful thing to be,” she told the Guardian in 2015.
13 Hired A Nanny: Mariah Carey Is A Diva
We could never see Mariah Carey retiring because she is a diva and she loves the luxurious lifestyle that she leads. She loves having nannies to help her out but she is also very strict with her nannies. She did an interview with the radio show The Breakfast Club where she talked about firing nannies.
"Unfortunately, I have to have nannies but I'm very hands-on. I fire nannies like this," she said, as News24 reports. "And I hate doing it, but I have to because if they try to make themselves more important in the baby's mind than me… "
She clearly didn't have to finish that sentence.
12 Ditched Hollywood: Shania Twain Surprised Everyone
Shania Twain truly surprised the world when she chose to leave her wildly successful career as a singer to raise her children. She even moved to Switzerland so that she could raise her children in peace.
When she took a break from Hollywood she didn't intend to be gone for that long. But Lyme disease caused damage to her vocal cords. “I wanted a break - but not for 15 years,” she said, as The Guardian reports.
11 Hired A Nanny: Beyoncé Has Eight Nannies
She has three children now and she's easily one of the busiest women in the industry. The Mirror reported that Beyoncé has eight nannies working for her to make sure that there is round-the-clock care for her children.
"The twins don't sleep at the same time, so she decided she needed three per child, working in eight hour shifts," a source told The Mirror.
There are also two nannies for Blue Ivy.
10 Ditched Hollywood: Meg Ryan Had Enough
As most people likely already know, Meg Ryan was one of the most popular actresses in her generation and many people were very sad to see her leave Hollywood. She had been in a lot of amazing movies like Sleepless In Seattle, Top Gun and You've Got Mail. But just like a lot of other parents, Meg decided that she wanted to spend more time with her kids.
Meg has one son, Jack (with actor Dennis Quaid), and she adopted a daughter Daisy True, in January of 2006.
9 Hired A Nanny: Gwen Stefani Interviewed 67 Nannies
Gwen Stefani is not only an artist but an entrepreneur as well so when she was having children, she needed to get some help. Female First reports her saying,
“I'm super-unorganized, a real procrastinator, time management is non-existent. When I had them, I realized I couldn't be selfish anymore. My time away needs to be productive, and my time with them needs to be productive. It's a lot of depending on a lot of other people. I had to interview 67 nannies alone… to get the people I have now.”
8 Ditched Hollywood: Hilary Duff Was A Single Mom
Hilary Duff was another popular actress that stepped away from Hollywood to raise her child, a son named Luca. She was married at the time to Mike Comrie. The two separated and Duff found herself as a single mom - with mom guilt. She told Glamour,
"I always feel torn or guilty about something. I'm not working right now, and at first I stressed about that, like, 'Oh, I shouldn't stay still this long.' And that's ridiculous. I have a child; it's totally fine to not be [pressured] all the time. It feels really good to not be on someone else's schedule-besides Luca's. I'm basically his chauffeur!"
7 Hired A Nanny: Gwyneth Paltrow Thinks Nannies Are Important
Gwyneth Paltrow is another busy Hollywood woman. She not only still acts in Hollywood but she has a Goop conglomeration that takes up a lot of her time. She is one woman who is very grateful for the nannies that she has in her life. She told People,
"I have an amazing nanny. I didn't have one [until] Apple was 14 months old, but then, because we were going on tour [with Coldplay], we found someone fantastic. She's been with us ever since."
6 Ditched Hollywood: Phoebe Cates Kline Chose Her Family
Phoebe Cates Kline was the cute girl from movies such as Gremlins and Fast Times At Ridgemont High. She decided to leave Hollywood for her family and she has been married to her husband, Kevin Kline, for over 25 years.
She made the decision to retire from acting in 1994 and only returned once in 2001 as a favour to her friend, Jennifer Jason Leigh who wanted her to star in her movie The Anniversary Party which she directed.
5 Hired A Nanny: Angelina Jolie Has Two Nannies Per Child
At one point Angelina Jolie hired two nannies per child with a total of 12 for her children, as The Daily Mail reports. During her split from Brad, she hired her brother James Haven to run the nannies in the household but it was even too much work for him.
"It was his job to be there if any of the kids woke up during the night and to deal with the nannies if they had any issues. He was virtually running the household and it became very draining," a source said, as Oregon Live reports.
4 Ditched Hollywood: Elizabeth Hurley Became A Single Mom
Elizabeth Hurley decided to leave Hollywood for a period of time to raise her son, Damian.
“Looking after my son became my number one task, and it was a joy to have someone else on whom to focus,” the actress said, as Nicki Swift reports. “I was 36 and had been worrying about myself for quite long enough. I stopped doing movies and TV for the first eight years of his life, and I don't regret it for a moment. I always put him first.”
3 Hired A Nanny: Serena Williams Tries To Be Present
Not only does Serena have to compete but she also has to spend a lot of hours training for her sport. She has stated in interviews that she doesn't like not being around her daughter. However, she still requires a nanny to allow her to have the career that she does. Pop Sugar reports the champion saying,
"I haven't been away from her, but when I am, I don't do well, she doesn't do well, she gets irritated, I get irritated, I get emotional. I need to be around her, so I schedule my days making sure I can spend the maximum time with her possible."
2 Ditched Hollywood: Jamie Lynn Spears Was A Young Mom
Jamie Lynn Spears was only 16 years old when she got pregnant with her daughter. She was at the height of her popularity at the time with TV shows like Zoey 101. She told Tinseltown Mom,
“It wasn't hard for me because I was in a place where I wanted to be away from Hollywood. I needed to take time to figure out who I was as a woman and focus on being a mom so it was the only option for me.”
1 Hired A Nanny: Julia Robert Uses Nannies
Julia Roberts raises her kids away from the spotlight in New Mexico. Forbes reports that she once claimed she wouldn't be able to travel the world filming Eat, Pray, Love without a "village" supporting her. This team includes her husband, family, friends and "amazing women" who help her take care of her three kids.
It was reported by Baby Gaga that when the kids were still young, she required her nanny to wear a red wig so that her kids would think it was her putting them to bed. Not sure how well that worked.