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We all know it: kids can say the darnedest things. They are always opening their mouths and blurting out whatever comes to mind, even when it’s not the kind of thing you want other people to hear. This is pretty embarrassing even for the average parent, but when you happen to be a celebrity, the consequences can be even more shameful. After all, what journalist wouldn’t want to pick up a piece of juicy gossip like that and run with it?

It turns out that celebrity kids actually love to talk about their parents. It’s not really surprising, given the kind of environment that they grew up in – always seeing their parents talking to this person or that person in a professional capacity. But kids can’t separate a professional image from the kind of things that they would mention off-hand to a friend in the playground.

Even when they start to grow up and become adults themselves, the offspring of celebrities can still be prone to spilling a secret or two about their lives. They like to talk about what it was like to grow up with a famous parent, or what they were really like behind the scenes. Even though their parents might not want them to spill the beans, there’s always a juicy secret just waiting to come out – and you know what they say about the truth. Here are fifteen cases where someone said more than they probably should have about their celebrity parents, giving us an interesting insight into the real person behind the fame.

Ozzy Osbourne’s Near-Death Encounter

When Kelly Osbourne took the chance to write her own autobiography, it seemed like there might not be much to say. After all, we’d seen it all on The Osbournes – hadn’t we? As it turned out, there were still a few skeletons left in the closet. Kelly revealed a dark secret that the family had been hiding since 2002. At that time, mother Sharon was diagnosed with stage-three colorectal cancer, which she happily managed to beat. But it sent father Ozzy into a spiral of drugs and depression. One night, Sharon had a cancer-related seizure, and Kelly was left terrified when Ozzy reacted by downing a ton of pills with some vodka. She told the story of how, in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, Ozzy collapsed as his body could not take the overdose. Kelly was just 19 when it happened, and ended up copying her father’s pill-popping habit as a coping mechanism.

Madonna’s Methods Of Punishment

Madonna’s adopted son, David, still has contact with his biological father in Malawi. It was when he was on a visit to see him that he apparently came out with some choice stories about Madonna and her parenting methods. "He told me his mum likes riding horses and that he too rides horses,” said David’s father. “Then he told me a story when one day he and his brother, Rocco, rode horses and fell. He told me his mum smacked him because they are not supposed to ride horses on their own." It’s a fairly interesting piece of gossip, particularly since corporal punishment is a hot topic amongst parents right now. So is Madonna right or wrong for punishing her children physically? If we’re to judge by the behaviour of her older children, maybe it wasn’t the best of choices. She’s been facing a custody battle as her biological son would rather live with his father than her.

David Beckham’s Embarrassing Habits

When Cruz Beckham went on the radio to promote his first music venture, one station had a lot of fun playing a game with him called ‘Mr and Mrs Beckham’. The youngster was asked questions about his parents, comparing the two of them and deciding which of them was more likely to do one thing or another. He admitted that he thinks David is the more embarrassing of his parents, and that David has one corny trick that he just won’t give up. Apparently, every Christmas morning he will pretend that there are no presents under the tree at all, only to take the kids downstairs and show them a huge pile. With Cruz already 11 years old when he told the story, he’s probably getting pretty sick of the joke. He had a lot to say during the game, which revealed some interesting things about the rest of the household, too.

Ozzy Osbourne Hates Thongs

Here’s another revelation that came from the mouth of Kelly Osbourne, and it’s really quite cringeworthy. Ozzy Osbourne has always been known for his wild behaviour, but when it comes to his kids, he’s more of a conservative than you might think. It turns out that he’s really not a fan of thongs at all, and doesn’t find it acceptable for his daughter to wear one. Kelly told the story of how one day she was wearing one underneath her jeans when Ozzy noticed it poking out. Even though she was with a group of her friends at the time, he quickly pinned her to the floor and grabbed a pair of scissors. He then cut the thong off her! That’s a bit of an extreme reaction – we reckon most dads would just quietly tell their daughter to go upstairs and get changed, rather than making such a scene about it.

Alyson Hannigan’s Nose Isn’t Perfect

Alyson Hannigan technically shared this herself, but it’s a perfect example of kids saying things that turn out to be hilarious. She has two children, and she found out in 2015 that young children can be brutally honest about what they like and don’t like. It seems celebrity kids aren’t always fans of their parents! She shared a tweet about an exchange between her two children, who were competing to let her know how much they both love her. Her 6-year-old said to her, “Mommy I love you more than all of the chocolate chip cookies in the world!” Pretty sweet, right? Her 2-year-old then piped up in the way that only toddlers can, saying, “Mama I love you all the way up to your nose.” Ouch – that kid is brutal! At least Alyson has some tips about what she might want to change in the future, should she ever decide to get some cosmetic work done…

James Brolin’s On-And-Off Career

Josh Brolin had a pretty lucky start in Hollywood, given that he is the son of another famous actor. At least, that’s what you would expect once you hear about his background. Actually, the way James tells it, things were a lot different. James Brolin wasn’t quite as successful in Hollywood as he would like people to think. Talking about what life was like when he was growing up, Josh admitted, “My dad was a moderately successful celebrity on TV. He would work and then not work for a long time. We would have things and then we wouldn’t have things. I just didn’t understand that level of financial insecurity when I was a kid.” They actually didn’t even live in Hollywood, or Malibu as some would expect. Instead, they had a ranch where Josh was given exactly zero tips about acting from either of his parents. It’s actually kind of crazy that he made it!

Victoria Beckham's Potty Mouth

Cruz Beckham definitely had some interesting gossip to share about his mother while playing ‘Mr and Mrs Beckham’ on the radio. While his tidbits about David were funny, these go beyond that. Apparently his mother is the most likely of the two to fall asleep on the sofa – no wonder, considering that she’s a very busy woman with a lot of businesses under her belt. He also said that she is the one of them that takes the longest to get ready – Cruz estimated that it took around 10 hours for her to be ready to leave the house. Finally, he revealed that she was the most likely to say a naughty word in front of the kids. Who knew that Posh Spice would have such a potty mouth – especially compared to a footballer? It just goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover.

Martin Sheen’s Temper And Drinking Problems

Emilio Estevez, brother of Charlie Sheen and son of Martin Sheen, had some choice anecdotes to share when he spoke to the Times about his family relationships. He revealed that things certainly weren’t plain sailing even at the height of Martin’s career. He told a story of when Martin was filming Apocalypse Now in 1976, and took his whole family along to the Philippines with him to shoot. Martin had been drinking heavily, and Emilio decided he wanted to go home. The pair came to blows and ended up rolling around on the floor in a full-on fistfight. That’s when Marlon Brando, Sheen’s co-star, knocked on the door to break up the fight. Emilio admitted that he had actually been afraid of his father, who didn’t quit his heavy drinking habit until 1989. Martin responded that he was grateful Brando had been there to stop them from hurting one another.

Donald Sutherland’s Secret Son

A shocking family secret for the Sutherlands was revealed in one of the most brutal ways possible: through an obituary in the newspaper. Louise Scott was an artist who died in Montreal in 2007. In the notice of her death, it spoke about the son she left behind – a son who, it mentioned, was fathered by “the actor Donald Sutherland”. Donald just happens to be Louise’s cousin, making this even more scandalous. Sutherland apparently rarely acknowledged that the child, John, even existed. Louise gave him the surname O’Riordan after her partner, instead of naming him after his real father. It was shocking for the news to come out in this way, but a friend of the family stated that the intention was to force Donald into actually spending some time with his son and develop a relationship with him. According to reports, brother Kiefer had never even met John.

Lloyd Bridges’ Beauty Secret

Even when they are waxing lyrical about how great their parents are, kids can sometimes get it wrong and spill a bit of an embarrassing secret. This was certainly the case when Jeff Bridges started to talk about his late father, Lloyd, who was also an actor. He was reminiscing about how Lloyd managed to get himself typecast into scuba-diving roles, of all things, by doing one series in which his character stole hearts. He says his father was so good on Sea Hunt that it was “almost a double-edged thing”. He also remembered how his father would prepare for the roles, which required him to look as though he spent all of his time out at sea and in the sun. He said, “As a kid, I remember he'd put baby oil on himself and bake. You don't see that much anymore.” No kidding, Jeff! Well, there you have it: if you want to look like a scuba diver for a film, baby oil is apparently the way to go.

Martin Sheen’s AA Attitude

Here’s another snippet about Martin Sheen – but this time from one of his other famous sons, Charlie Sheen. You of course will remember that Charlie went through a bit of a public breakdown a while back, talking about how he was a natural winner, before coming out as HIV positive after a scandalous blackmailing story hit the news. But when explaining why he put his hands up and admitted it, Charlie also spilled something interesting about his father and his attitudes. They were talking about going to AA meetings, and Martin was describing what he called “the disease of alcoholism”. It’s interesting to know how Martin feels about something that cursed his life for a long time, and how it obviously affects him very deeply to this day. That’s when Charlie announced the big topic, and apparently, Martin was quick to leap forward and offer him whatever help he needed.

Tom Hanks Doesn’t Know Music

Colin Hanks is starting to be a bit of a successful actor himself, which is doubtless great news for famous acting father Tom. But he perhaps wasn’t too pleased when Colin was asked about him in an interview, because Colin didn’t exactly hold back and exchange pleasantries. The interviewer asked if Colin and Tom were both music buffs, and Colin said, “Oh, I’m more of a music buff than he is.” He went on to add, “I have to educate him on a great number of things! He only likes music if it sounds like it was recorded between 1961 and 1965.” Ouch! Since Tom likes to portray himself as a bit of a cool guy, this was no doubt a bit of a dent to his ego. It’s not like we could think any less of him for it, though – he’s famously big-hearted and has been making headlines recently by surprising his fans with appearances.

Carrie Fisher’s Ideas About Gender

Billie Lourd, daughter of the late and legendary Carrie Fisher, spoke up about what it was like to grow up with a famous mother. Carrie also famously had troubles with addition, but it was her feminist views and outspoken honesty that made her more of an icon for many. Lourd talked about how she was named Billie because the name could refer to either gender, and said that Carrie raised her to see both genders as equal and the same. She said, “She raised me without gender.” What’s interesting is that some celebrities are still taking flack for this parenting method today, which is seen as quite a shocking and modern idea. To think that Carrie was doing it in the 90s really gives you a different perspective on those that are supposedly pioneering it today. But Carrie was always very strong in her views, and as Billie tells it, she liked to lead by example rather than preaching.

Debbie Reynolds’ Unusual Presents

Carrie Fisher’s own mother, Debbie Reynolds, was also famous for her acting career. Carrie let slip a little something about her mother when she was on the Graham Norton Show, which is sure to give fans a giggle. Apparently, Debbie had a penchant for buying fairly unusual Christmas presents, at least as far as what you would normally buy for your own family members. One year, she bought both Carrie and her own mother a vibrator for Christmas! Understandably, Gran was quite shocked and was even worried that it would have negative consequences for her pacemaker if she used it. There was no word during the televised interview on whether Carrie got any enjoyment out of hers, thankfully – it’s probably not the kind of thing she should be talking to her mother and grandmother about anyway! They’re all grown adult women, but still, there’s such a thing as overshare.

Melanie Griffith Can’t Get Work

Dakota Johnson recently opened up about how she feels that the industry is prejudiced against her mother, because of her advancing age. Her mother, by the way, is actress Melanie Griffith – whose own mother is also an actress, Tippi Hedren, who you may remember from The Birds. Dakota complained that both ladies were not able to get roles because of their age – 58, in Griffith’s case. "Why isn't my mother in movies?" Dakota said. "She's an extraordinary actress! Why isn't my grandmother in movies? This industry is f**king brutal.” She inadvertently revealed that both of her relatives are actually on the lookout for work, which means they must have been struggling for quite some time. Rejection is painful, but public rejection is all the more painful still. While it’s important for Dakota to raise awareness of ageism in Hollywood, she probably didn’t do her mother and grandmother any favours by making them sound desperate.