Forbidden diapers, naked rockstars, and bitter divorces. If you want to nanny for the stars,
you'll need more than a positive attitude.
Jon & Kate Plus 8 followed the lives of then-married couple Jon and Kate Gosselin and
their eight children. After the couple divorced in June 2009, the show was called Kate Plus 8,
which showcased Kate raising her children as a single mother. Of course, raising eight kids was
no easy feat, and the Gosselin family enlisted the help of nannies. However, there are allegations
that Kate may have been a little too controlling when giving specific orders to her workers.
A former nanny to Gosselin's kids reportedly spilled the tea to E! News. The source said
Kate gave employees a manual on her pet peeves to ensure that they would not do things such
as vacuum at specific times or place items on the floor. If the clock struck 9 p.m.,
employees were to stop whatever they were doing and call it a day. The ex-nanny also
admitted that she had to eavesdrop on the kids' conversations with their father, Jon Gosselin.
"Communication with my children that live with
Kate is very difficult because I have been alienated from those children."
The former nanny dished that,
The childcare provider decided to stop working for Kate when she witnessed the
reality star spanking her son Collin in front of the other kids using a plastic
spoon. Reportedly, this occurrence was one of a number of uncomfortable situations.
Believe it or not, Kate Gosselin's ex-husband, Jon Gosselin, has also been in the news for his nanny
drama, but for an entirely different reason. Jon allegedly had an affair with his children's nanny,
Stephanie Santoro, after he and Kate filed for divorce in June 2009. At the time,
he was already in a relationship with his then-girlfriend Hailey Glassman.
Speaking with In Touch, Santoro claimed that, after meeting Jon several times
in the bar where she worked, he invited her to his home in Pennsylvania and asked for a
massage. Things escalated, and Jon eventually kissed her. Allegedly, he cautioned Santoro,
Shockingly, Santoro even described her intimate experiences with Jon as generally lackluster.
She also indicated that, while she and the reality star were close, they had not discussed marriage.
Glassman and the father of eight split in October 2009. In an interview with Radar, she revealed
that Jon had cheated on her with a reporter named Kate Major but did not mention the ex-nanny.
Mariah Carey's infamous diva-like behavior had her children's nanny exposing her dirty laundry.
In January 2015, the singer's former nanny Simonette DaCosta
filed a lawsuit against the star and her ex-husband, Nick Cannon,
claiming that the former couple neglected to compensate the nanny for overtime.
According to ABC News, the lawsuit alleged that DaCosta cared for Carey and Cannon's twins,
Monroe and Moroccan, from October 2013 until late January 2014. During that time,
DaCosta states that she worked more than 100 hours per week on a regular basis.
She received no sleep or meal breaks, and was on call 24 hours a day. The suit also stated,
According to Page Six, the ex-nanny settled the
lawsuit against her former boss in June 2015 for an undisclosed amount.
Carey has admitted to having a hard time keeping nannies. In 2014,
she spoke about her struggle with Power 105.1's The Breakfast Club.
"I'm very hands-on. I fire nannies like this. And I hate doing it, but I have to
because if they try to make themselves more important in the baby's mind than me..."
In 2002, Claire Verity, the former nanny to Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger's son,
Gabriel, confessed to having sex with the rockstar. In an interview for the Mirror,
Verity, who has worked for the likes of Sting and Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler,
revealed that the alleged affair took place just 48 hours after meeting Jagger.
The nanny worked for Jagger in 1998. She alleged that the singer introduced himself
naked and fresh out of the shower, while Gabriel and his mother, Jerry Hall, were just a few feet
away in their hotel room. Verity admitted that she was very struck by Jagger's appearance,
calling him "well endowed." The meeting quickly became physical. Verity explained,
She added that she did not regret the incident,
calling the frontman "one of the sexiest stars on the planet."
Jagger's spokesman Bernard Doherty denied the allegations. Somewhat unsurprisingly,
Jagger and Hall split after 22 years together when she learned of his affair with Brazilian
model Luciana Gimenez. The model gave birth to Jagger's son Lucas in May 1999. According
to Closer Weekly, the rockstar has fathered eight children with five different women.
Katie Lowes is best known for starring as Quinn Perkins in ABC's drama series,
Scandal. Before she made it big in Hollywood,
however, she worked numerous jobs to pay the bills. In multiple interviews,
Lowes confirmed that, both as a caterer and nanny, she often worked for celebrities.
Speaking to Jimmy Kimmel in October 2013, Lowes revealed that she worked as a nanny
to one celeb who had a unique way of parenting. Lowes told Kimmel that one
anonymous celebrity parent refused to put their children in diapers, saying,
As harrowing as this position may sound,
it seems that Lowes can laugh at the absurdity of the situation in hindsight.
"I would have to make encouraging poop sounds behind his face."
Although Lowes kept the identity of that celeb a secret, fans quickly put two and two together when
actor Connie Britton spoke to E! News in January 2014 and admitted that Lowes was the nanny to
her son Eyob. Apparently, Lowes was fairly good at her job, as the Nashville star later joked,
Philippa Christian is known as the nanny to the stars. The Australian
nanny has worked for countless celebrities and even royalty. Thanks to her position,
she's been on private jets and gone to some of the most lavish celebrity parties.
"A lot of parents also like their children to be bathed in this diamond water — which
I didn't know what this was when I first first started working — but,
it's water that has been run through diamonds."
Christian told The Morning Show,
While Christian has been fairly transparent about her nannying
experiences — in fact she wrote the novel Nanny Confidential based on
her life — she's sworn never to reveal her past employers. She shared on the talk show,
In 2016, Christian dished to ET that affairs between nannies and
celebrities are more common than the ones we read about in the tabloids.
"A lot of my nanny friends and myself know of one nanny in particular who
has had a baby to a celebrity father, um, who the media don't know about."
She also shared that some stars aren't fond
of nannies forming relationships with their kids. Christian said,
According to the Daily Mail, Christian no longer works as
a nanny but teaches up-and-coming nannies the tricks of the trade.
Since their July 1999 wedding, Victoria and David Beckham's marriage has been a hot
topic. There's been constant speculation about the soccer player's infidelity,
and it didn't help when a former nanny decided to expose the famous
couple and allege details of their crumbling marriage to the press.
According to the Daily Mail, in 2005, former nanny Abbie Gibson sold her story
to the now-defunct publication News of the World for approximately $300,000.
She alleged that she witnessed the famous couple arguing non-stop, and that Victoria
reeled over David's cheating ways. Gibson elaborated that the couple's marriage was
on the rocks due to David's alleged affairs with a personal assistant, a beautician,
and one additional woman. David responded to the allegations via E! News, stating,
The Beckhams sued Gibson for breach of confidence, and in March 2006,
received an undisclosed settlement from News of the World. In June 2009,
Gibson apologized to the Beckhams "for breaching her duties of confidence."
In April 2008, actor Rob Lowe found himself in a legal battle with his
former nanny of seven years after she accused the star of 12 allegations,
including sexual harassment and labor-code violations.
The ex-nanny, Jessica Gibson, alleged that Lowe would inappropriately touch her and
expose himself during her employment. Gibson also claimed that Lowe's wife,
Sheryl, harassed her by discussing sexual experiences and speaking with vulgarity.
Lowe publicly denied the allegations, and claimed that Gibson was blackmailing
the star and his wife for a sum of $1.5 million. The actor also filed a
preemptive lawsuit against Gibson. He wrote in The Huffington Post,
Two of the 12 allegations pertaining to labor-code violations were dismissed by
a judge in June 2008. In May 2009, both Lowe and Gibson dropped their lawsuits.
However, it wasn't over for the Lowes, who faced another sexual harassment claim
by a second nanny named Laura Boyce. She accused Sheryl of using, quote,
"racial and sexual epithets" throughout Boyce's seven months on the job. The actor sued Boyce
for confidentiality agreement violation and defamation. However, both suits were dismissed.
Celebrity nanny Suzanne Hansen had no problem exposing her past employers in her 2005 book,
You'll Never Nanny in this Town Again. The tell-all discusses
the good and bad of working as a nanny to the elite in Hollywood,
including her rough gig as a live-in nanny for popular talent agent Michael Ovitz's children,
and her more pleasurable time working for Danny DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman.
"I don't know what love is."
"Well, you're in luck, 'cause I do."
Hansen may have inadvertently started a rumor about actor Nicole Kidman and her adopted kids,
Isabella and Connor, whom she shares with her ex-husband Tom Cruise. The nanny confessed to
Page Six that she never saw Kidman with her son or daughter. However, Hansen reportedly
did not nanny their kids directly, so she may not be authorized to comment on Kidman's
involvement with them. She also spoke on the family's non-disclosure agreements:
Kidman and Cruise announced their separation in February 2001. Their divorce was finalized that
August, and they had reached a settlement by November. The Big Little Lies actor went on to
marry country singer Keith Urban in June 2006. The couple has since welcomed two daughters,
Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret. Contrary to any alleged comments over Kidman's lack of parenting,
the actor did share in 2020 with Marie Claire Australia,