Tracee Ellis Ross Reflects on "Grief" Over Not Marrying or Having Kids, and Reveals Why She Prefers Dating Younger Men
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
Tracee Ellis Ross has had a dextrous life and career to date, but that doesn't mean she's totally without regrets. Like any woman, Ross has made difficult choices, some of which involved her romantic life and whether she'd start a family. In a new interview on Michelle Obama's IMO podcast, Ross got candid about "grieving" certain aspects of life she didn't experience, and revealed why she prefers dating younger men.
During her appearance on IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, the 52-year-old Blackish actress explained (via People), "A lot of men my age are steeped in a toxic masculinity and have been raised in a culture where there is a particular way that a relationship looks." She continued, "Anything that starts to smell of that for me—I did enough of it where I was controlled and felt like I was a possession or a prize—I just have no interest in it. And I will not do it again."
Ross also praised what she perceived to be an "openness" in younger men, saying, "I have long been past the age where I feel like it's my job to teach somebody or grow them up. That, I'm not interested in."
The Black Mirror star noted that, despite loving her life, she also "grieved" certain milestones she didn't reach—something many people contend with as they age. "I grieve the things that I thought would be and that are not," Ross said during her podcast appearance. "I'm not married. I don't have children, and I think I grieve that at times."
However, Ross refuses to settle, especially when it comes to romantic relationships. "As much grief does surface for me around not having children and not having a partner, I still wouldn't want the wrong partner," she noted. "I'm not interested in that."
As for what she is looking for in a romantic relationship, Ross told the hosts, "You have to make my life better. It can't just be, 'I'm in a relationship to be in a relationship.' So even though the grief does emerge and that comes and I hold that, I think of what I've done." She continued, "I wake up every morning trying to do my best. I didn't wake up one morning and be like, 'I'm going to mess this day up.' So I must be where I'm supposed to be."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
16 minutes ago
- New York Post
'Friends' star Jane Sibbett reveals why she quit Hollywood for new career
The one where Carol becomes an energy healer. 'Friends' actress Jane Sibbett, who played Ross' lesbian ex-wife on the sitcom, opened up about her decision to leave Hollywood for a different career in a new interview with People. Sibbett, 62, told the outlet that she became passionate about energy and spirituality after moving to Hawaii with her then-husband Karl Fink around ten years ago. Advertisement 8 Jessica Hecht, David Schwimmer and Jane Sibbett in 'Friends' in 1995. Getty Images 8 Jane Sibbett in an Instagram photo from March 2025. janesibbett/Instagram 'My husband and I split [when] we were in Hawaii, and I was on my knees because I was really brokenhearted by everything, and part of that was my stuff that I had to deal with,' Sibbett shared. Advertisement The 'It Takes Two' actress recalled that after the split, energy healer Abdy Electriciteh, with whom she was producing a documentary, asked her to help him produce a live energy healing event. 8 Jane Sibbett attends the 'Wedding Wonderland' premiere in Los Angeles in 2017. Tommaso Boddi 'It was a perfect synthesis of my belief in the gift of him [and] what he was doing and me coming off of 'Friends,'' she explained, adding, 'I'm really a shy person, and so for me to step up into a crowd and introduce him all day long to all these people and have a different story, each and every time, I started to feel the way that source energy or God energy was moving through me.' 'Then somebody said, 'Hey, you were so good at that. I know somebody else who needs your help,'' Sibbett continued, 'and so I went to one person, and then I did the next person, and I did the next.' Advertisement 8 Jane Sibbett as Carol Willick-Bunch, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller in 'Friends.' NBCUniversal via Getty Images Sibbett noted that she didn't have any formal training in her 'dancing hands' technique that was inspired by Electriciteh. 8 Jane Sibbett at The Hollywood Show in Los Angeles in 2015. Getty Images 'I wouldn't call it Reiki,' she told the outlet. '[My hands] just started dancing because I was never trained in Reiki, so I wouldn't even know what that is. I believe in it, I trust it [but] it's just not what I do. This wasn't trained. This just came in fully fleshed, immediately.' Advertisement Despite leaving Hollywood, Sibbett — who is working on a memoir about her career change — believes her acting experience actually helped her become an energy healer. 8 Jane Sibbett in 'Herman's Head' in the 1990s. ©Touchstone Television/Courtesy Everett Collection 8 Jane Sibbett attends the 1736 Family Crisis Center's 40th Anniversary Gala in Pacific Palisades, Calif. in 2013. WireImage 'I think every actor worth their salt knows that they are embodied by the character. At some point, you give yourself over, [so] I understand why my body is trained to let itself go,' she shared. 'That's part of the actor crisscross there.' Sibbett appeared in 15 episodes of 'Friends.' Her character Carol was involved in the first lesbian wedding on television. 8 Jessica Hecht as Susan Bunch-Willick, Jane Sibbett as Carol Willick-Bunch in 'Friends.' NBCUniversal via Getty Images Last year, Sibbett told The Post that she's never watched the beloved sitcom in its entirety. 'I'm that girl who just doesn't watch what she's already done,' she said. 'It's really terrible.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Everything Paulina Gretzky Has Said About Being a Boy Mom
While you may think of Wayne Gretzky's daughter, Paulina Gretzky, as a sexy model who often shows off her iconic style on Instagram, she's also a proud mom of two boys! For those who don't know, Paulina and the six-time World Golf Champion, Dustin Johnson, first got together in 2013, getting engaged only after a few months together. In Aug 2013, Johnson confirmed the engagement rumors with a tweet reading, '@PaulinaGretzky she said yes!!!' They then welcomed two sons named Tatum Gretzky Johnson, born on January 19, 2015, and River Jones Johnson, born on June 12, 2017. And in April 2022, they got married at the luxurious Blackberry Farm, just outside Nashville, per People; and have been happily together since. And since then, they've mostly kept their kids out of the spotlight, making sure they get the best of both worlds. But over the years, Paulina has given rare glimpses into life as a boy mom. Whether it be showing how she does their lavish birthday parties or how they already love to golf, she's willing to show the sweet moments. Along with that, she's revealed quite a few things about being a mom! Below, see everything Paulina has said about being a boy mom: More from SheKnows Meghan Markle Shares Rare New Photos of Princess Lilibet - & She Is Dad Prince Harry's Mini-Me Best of SheKnows These '90s Girl Names Are All That and a Bag of Chips 26 Stunning, Unique Jewelry Brands & Pieces for Teens 19 Celebrity Parents With Trans & Nonbinary Kids 'Pregnancy was tough and I'm not going to lie, adjusting to my new body, it took a toll,' she told KIND Magazine in 2023 about her two pregnancies. 'But then I realised I had to pull myself out of this for my children. But then I realised again, that that wasn't quite right either—I had to pull myself out of it for my relationship with Dustin. I had to pull myself out of it for me.' 'The example I set for my kids with Dustin is we have to do it together. We're not always on the same page, but we trust each other enough so that I know he's doing right by our children and he knows I'm doing right by our kids—we talk about it, but at the fundamental level is trust,' she said to Kind Magazine. 'It's just unbelievable. Dustin's the best dad, he's my best friend. He's been so supportive with me and we're just there for each other,' Gretzky said to ABC News about how grateful she is to have her husband and the father of her children is her best friend. In a dual interview with her mom for Palm Beach Illustrated, it was said that her sons call their grandparents Honey and Papa, and that they often pick them up from school. While she wasn't the one to reveal this, we're still counting it! Her husband Johnson told the Daily Mail that Paulina chose River's name. He said, 'I don't know where she got it. I tried to ask. She said, 'I don't know, I just like the name.'' Despite having a famous dad and a famous husband, it's the usual for Paulina; and her two sons. 'His patience is fantastic. No ego, and it was funny seeing the kids realise who their dad is, and who my dad is, but we don't want them to be raised differently. Of course we want them to know that they're special, everyone is. But around the house, my dad is grandpa and Dustin is dad,' she said to KIND. So, Gretzky says that she's not only open to having more kids, but she'd love to have a baby girl!On the Netchicks podcast, she said: 'I want to have one more. But like my dilemma is, whatever happens, happens. I would love a girl! But I want to enjoy being 32, 33, and then hopefully, if I'm lucky enough, then I get to have one more at 34.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Where Blake Lively and Taylor Swift stand after pop star was subpoenaed in messy Justin Baldoni lawsuit: report
There's bad blood between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift amid the actress's lawsuit with Justin Baldoni. 'Their friendship has halted,' a Swift insider reportedly told People Thursday. 'Taylor wants no part in this drama.' A separate insider pushed back on the notion that their friendship has come to a hard stop, however, telling the outlet that while Swift, 35, and Lively, 37, are 'taking some space,' they are 'not no longer friends.' Page Six reached out to reps for Lively and Swift, but did not immediately hear back. Lawyers for Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios officially subpoenaed the 'Cruel Summer' songstress as a witness in Lively's sexual harassment case against her 'It Ends With Us' co-star on May 8. The trial is set to begin in March 2026, but Swift's legal team at Venable is fighting the subpoena. On Wednesday, news emerged that Baldoni's attorneys accused Blake Lively's lawyers of threatening to release alleged texts between the longtime pals if the 'Blank Space' singer refused to publicly support the actress in the continuing legal battle. In docs obtained by Page Six on Thursday, Baldoni's attorneys alleged the 'Another Simple Favor' star's attorney Michael Gottlieb of Willkie Farr issued the demand to Venable. According to the filing, they specifically alleged that Gottlieb 'demanded that Ms. Swift release a statement of support for Ms. Lively, intimating that, if Ms. Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively's possession would be released.' The docs claimed that in the absence of compliance, the actress 'would release 'ten years' of private texts' between her and Swift. On Thursday, Page Six obtained documents further claiming that the mom of four asked Swift to 'delete their text messages' amid the bombshell case. Baldoni's lawyers also claimed a rep for the pop star 'addressed these inappropriate and apparently extortionate threats in at least one written communication transmitted to Mr. Gottlieb.' 'It is those communications that the Wayfarer parties seek to obtain by way of subpoena,' the docs continued. 'The [communications] would evidence an attempt to intimidate and coerce a percipient witness in this litigation.' In a statement to Page Six, Gottlieb 'unequivocally' denied the claims and slammed them as 'completely untethered from reality' and 'categorically false.' A judge subsequently ruled that the claims made by Baldoni and Wayfarer's teams are inadmissible in the case. A rep for the 'Don't Blame Me' singer, meanwhile, put Swift's subpoena on blast in a scathing statement to Page Six. 'Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see 'It Ends With Us' until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history,' the statement read. Lively apparently agrees, as her rep called Baldoni a 'bully' for his subpoena and stated that Baldoni and Wayfarer 'continue to turn a case of sexual harassment and retaliation into entertainment for the tabloids.' 'The defendants continue to publicly intimidate, bully, shame and attack women's rights and reputations,' Lively's rep said in part in a statement to Page Six on Saturday.
