The former couple welcomed the little girl in 2017 but split just a few years later — although they now spend a lot of time together with their daughter.
“Being a mom is one of the most amazing things ever,” Irina shared in a new interview with V Magazine.
She continued, “I’ve never imagined that I would enjoy it and love it so much. I feel like there is no better kind of love for anyone in this world, but the love for your child. It’s just very special.”
On top of that, Irina admits her daughter is the one who keeps her grounded amid her life in the spotlight.
“You know, my daughter has no filter,” she joked. “I remember this Halloween when I was dressed up as Bettie Page, she looked at me and goes, ‘No, take it off. It doesn’t work.’ I kind of feel like she keeps me grounded because she says what she thinks with no filter — I love it.”
For Irina, quality time is also one of the most important parts of her life with Lea, which is why she and Bradley actually don’t even have a nanny.
“You know, we don’t have a nanny, so sometimes, [when my friends suggest] dinner or a concert, they always say, ‘We know what Irina is going to say; we have no nanny.’ They say it’s my saving line. But we choose not to have a nanny,” Irina explained.
Although she doesn’t have a nanny, Irina still makes time for work — and hopes it will instill a strong work ethic in her daughter.
She recalled a moment where the little girl cried for her to stay home from work, but she explained why she had to go.
“I said, ‘Do you see that we have lights on in the house and we have food [on the table]? That’s why mommy and daddy have to go to work,'” Irina said. “I want to raise a woman and teach her how my grandmother and my mother taught me, where you have to work hard.”
While Irina admits that Lea is “being raised in different conditions” thanks to her famous parents, she believes she is raising her to understand the value of hard work.
“You can’t give her access to certain things [in order] for her to understand that you need to work hard to get something in your life,” she added. “[After that], then I said, ‘Look, mama is going to buy you a present, but if she doesn’t work, we don’t have money [to buy it].’ And she goes, ‘Okay, mama, go to work.'”
At the end of the day, Irina says being a mom has changed her life and her priorities, all for the better.
“Just being a mom, I’ve learned how to prioritize my time. How to choose my jobs and always remember that family is the most important thing. That’s how you keep going,” she concluded.
You can read all that Irina had to say here.
