When it comes to family, Kate Hudson's is more unconventional than most.
"I've got multiple dads, I’ve got kids all over the place," the actress and businesswoman told Sunday Today with Willie Geist.
"The only expectations I really have that are really high in my life is with my kids," she said.
"And with like, family stuff. Other than that, it's like, I just let it go. I work my ass off and then I walk away and I hope for the best."
Watch: Goldie Hawn got a little too close to the action during her granddaughter's birth. Post continues after video.
To add to the complexity of her relationships, the 45-year-old and her brother Oliver Hudson are estranged from their biological father, musician Bill Hudson, and were raised by their mother Goldie Hawn and her partner, Kurt Russell.
"It’s a 41-year-old issue," Hudson, who rarely speaks about her father, said in 2021.
"I have a great family. I have a beautiful mother. I have a stepfather who stepped in and played a huge, huge part in sharing what it is to have a dependable father figure in our life. But it doesn't take away from the fact that we didn't know our dad."
The actress said that "estrangement is unfortunately quite common."
"I think it's important for people to talk about that. Sometimes [we] need a little bit of talk and humour to move us into places where we can heal some of the wounds," she added.
Hudson has previously spoken about her estranged father and her relationship with her other siblings on her podcast Sibling Revelry, which she co-hosted with her brother Oliver.
"You know what I've been thinking about lately? Dad," she said in an episode earlier in 2021.
"I've been thinking about our sisters that we don't spend any time with and our brother - brothers. We've got four siblings we don't spend any time with.
"We've been talking so much about sibling relationships and distraught relationships or good relations - and we're sitting here like we have the best family, we're so great and yet we don't ever acknowledge the fact that we have four other siblings."
After Bill Hudson and Hawn divorced, he had two kids - daughter Emily in 1982 and son Zachary in 1986 - with Laverne and Shirley's Cindy Williams. He also had a daughter Lalania in 2006.
Kate Hudson on raising three kids with three different dads.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced us into our homes, Hudson homeschooled her three kids - a difficult decision for the actress.
"I’m just trying to balance school and work, basically," she told The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2021.
Hudson has three children from three different fathers. The three kids differ in age and include 20-year-old Ryder Russell Robinson and 13-year-old Bingham Hawn Bellamy. Both sons are from previous relationships with musicians Chris Robinson and Matt Bellamy, respectively.
Hudson also shares her five-year-old daughter, Rani Rose Hudson Fujikawa, with musician Danny Fujikawa; who she got engaged to after five years of dating.
Most recently, Hudson made a rare public appearance with Ryder at the Max Mara fashion show in Venice, Italy.
Ryder, who remains largely out of the spotlight, made his front-row debut sitting alongside Hudson and several other stars like Brie Larson and Yara Shahidi.
Looking exactly like his mother, the 20-year-old was all smiles as he was photographed with Hudson.
In March 2019, Hudson opened up about her experience of co-parenting with her former partners, sharing that her situation is “quite amazing”.
Speaking on the podcast Divorce Sucks! with Laura Wasserthis, she explained that in her situation, the key to maintaining a healthy co-parenting relationship has come down to three points: communication, self-sufficiency and always putting the kids first.
“As much as I would say I don’t recommend it to most, my situation is quite amazing,” Hudson shared.
Later, in November 2022, the actor told The Sunday Times they were "killing" the co-parenting game.
"It might not look traditional from the outside, but on the inside I feel like we're killing it," she explained. "The unit that I've created with three children with three different fathers is a seriously strong unit, and it's ours."
She met first Chris Robinson when she was 20 years old.
Hudson spoke to Erin and Sara Foster on their You're Doing Fine... Just Keep Going podcast and admitted the moment she came home after meeting him on a trip, she declared, "I'm marrying this guy."
The decision - however shocking for those around her - didn't surprise her.
"I just like jump in the deep end of everything I do," she explained. "People thought it was impulsive, but it was more like I was just like, 'You know what? I'm just going to dive right into this. I'm not gonna second guess it.
"I'm in love with him. I'm not gonna pretend like, 'Oh, we should wait.' I'm madly in love and I want to marry him and so I just didn't think twice. And I'm kind of still like that, except with a little more wisdom under my belt."
She noted that they "worshipped each other" and "were so in love" but after getting married on New Years Eve in 2000 and having their son Ryder, they later divorced in 2007.
The actor also shares her son Bingham with former partner Bellamy and her daughter with Fujikawa who she met while she was pregnant with her eldest son.
At the time, he was a junior in high school and the pair didn't get romantic until years later when he asked her on a hike.
"There was something about Danny that it was coming from such an honest place that I could tell he just wanted me to see him," she recalled.
"And so he was nervous and I was like, 'Ok, this is a date.' And I just had to wrap my head around it, and then by the end of the hike I was like, 'He's so great.'
"He was just so kind, and loving and pure, and in my mind I was like, 'I think I'm ready for a guy that like is that kind, who actually like really likes me, like, I think this could be good.'"
Hudson said she’s learnt how to deal with divorce and relationship breakdowns where children are involved from her mother, who split from Hudson's father in 1982, and has been with Kurt Russell since 1983.
"I think the one thing that I learned from my mum is that no matter what you’re feeling… when I see my friends talking sh*t about their ex-spouses in front of their kids, I get so upset because they don’t recognise how much that affects their child and how resentful their child will become of them," she explained, adding, "I never heard a bad word about my father."
"Kids are not only incredibly intelligent, but eventually they can make their mind up themselves," Hudson continued.
"They will see with their own eyes whatever needs to be seen and they need to come to that on their own terms. It’s not our place to tell them how to feel about the other parents. I think that’s so important."
Listen to The Spill, Mamamia's daily entertainment podcast. Post continues after audio.
However, Hudson acknowledged that she is financially comfortable on her own, and does not require any assistance from her partner or ex-partners, which makes things much easier.
"I think it’s important for a woman – obviously, for me personally, I am self-sufficient," she said.
"I do not rely on my partners for any financial stability. I think that allowed me a little bit of freedom… [for it] to be a little bit easier for me to walk away from certain relationships and maintain a good relationship with my partners."
"It’s just communication, and sometimes communication can be great and sometimes communication gets awry," the Fabletics co-founder added.
Feature Image: Instagram @katehudson.
This post was originally published in December 2019, and has since been updated with new information.
Want to get the most out of your day? Take our survey now to go in the running to win a $50 gift voucher!