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Olivia Wilde Defends Dating as a Single Mom: I ‘Owe it to’ My Children to Be Happy

Olivia Wilde Defends Dating as a Mom Daisy Josephine Sudeikis and Otis Sudeikis
Olivia Wilde, Daisy Josephine Sudeikis and Otis Sudeikis attend a Harlem Globetrotters game on February 16, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. John Photography/Shutterstock

The best balance! When it comes to dating as a single mom, Olivia Wilde considers her own happiness to be just as important as her kids’ feelings.

Related: Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wilde's Family Pics With Son Otis, Daughter Daisy

“Parenting forces you to be honest about how you live your life. It puts in sharp, clear focus decisions you’re making,” the actress, 37, told Vogue in her January 2022 cover story, published online on Thursday, December 9. “I think we owe it to children to be happy. They sense it. They’re so intuitive. The idea that you can trick your kids into thinking you’re happy is ludicrous.”

The New York native welcomed son Otis, 7, and daughter Daisy, 5, in 2014 and 2016, respectively, with her then-partner, Jason Sudeikis. The former couple split in November 2020, and the actor, 46, has since been dating his Ted Lasso costar Keeley Hazell.

Related: Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis’ Relationship Timeline

As for Wilde, the director is in a relationship with One Direction’s Harry Styles. Although the Broadway star was previously bashed for vacationing with the Grammy winner in Italy without Otis and Daisy, the House alum told the outlet that it is “very easy to control women by using guilt and shame” — but she has “no time” for such feelings.

Olivia Wilde Defends Dating as a Mom Harry Styles
Harry Styles attends the 40th Brit Awards at The O2 Arena on February 18, 2020 in London, England. JM Enternational/Shutterstock

“You can go deep on Cold War influences on family structure, why we all think we need, you know, a two-parent household and a microwave,” the filmmaker went on to say. “The work I’ve done personally in the last decade has been learning to have a voice and taking my voice seriously.”

Although Wilde rarely speaks of her bond with Styles, she recently made their relationship with the “Watermelon Sugar” singer a family affair by bringing her kids and parents to one of his California concerts. She was spotted singing and dancing with Otis and Daisy in a fan video last month.

During her interview with Vogue, Wilde revealed that she named her youngest child after her late uncle’s daughter, “Losing him was the hardest thing I’ve gone through as an adult. And I’ve gone through some s–t.”

The O.C. alum has been “coparenting well” with Sudeikis since calling it quits, a source exclusively told Us Weekly in July, noting that Wilde wishes her ex-husband nothing but the best in his relationship with Hazell, 35.

Related: Putting the Kids First! These Former Celeb Couples Are Crushing Coparenting

“She’s happy for him if he’s happy with whomever he’s dating,” the insider added at the time.

Olivia Wilde Defends Dating as a Mom 2
Olivia Wilde attends the LACMA: Art + Film Gala on November 6, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. AFF-USA/Shutterstock

That same month, Sudeikis addressed his breakup for the first time, calling it “rock bottom” in a GQ interview. “I’ll have a better understanding of why [it happened] in a year,” the Saturday Night Live alum told the magazine. “And an even better one in two, and an even greater one in five, and it’ll go from being, you know, a book of my life to becoming a chapter to a paragraph to a line to a word to a doodle. … That’s an experience that you either learn from or make excuses about. You take some responsibility for it, hold yourself accountable for what you do, but then also endeavor to learn something beyond the obvious from it.”

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