Young Celebrity Grandparents That Will Surprise You
These days, it's not unusual for women (including celebrities) to wait to have children until they're older. With more and more people waiting longer to have children, the average age of first-time grandparents is also greatly increasing. In some cases, parents who would've become grandparents in their 60s are now becoming grandparents in their 70s, according to the Wall Street Journal.
However, this isn't the case for everyone. According to statistics reported on grandparents.com, run by the American Grandparents Association, over one-third of grandparents they surveyed welcomed their first grand-child in their 40s.
This trickles into Hollywood, too. Many of Hollywood's elite are actually young — even too young — to be grandparents. And with those frequent dips in the fountain of youth that just must be located in Los Angeles, many of them look even younger. From athletes to actors, reality stars to politicians, these celebrity grandparents really are — believe it or not — much too young for grandparenthood.
Brett Favre: Too old to play in the NFL, too young to be a grandpa
If you were to play in the National Football League (NFL), you would be considered "old" by the age of 40, especially if you were a quarterback. Even so, quarterback Brett Favre remained in the NFL until he was 41 — after he had already become a grandfather.
In 2010, Favre announced on his website (via grandparents.com) that his 21-year-old daughter, Brittany Favre, welcomed her first child, Parker Brett, on April 2, 2010. Since retiring from football, Favre has become a grandparent to two more children — all boys.
In an interview with The Rich Eisen Show, Favre explained how he would feel if his three grandsons grew up to play football, saying, "I'm not gonna encourage them to play football, I'm not gonna discourage them, but I would much rather be a caddie for them in golf than watch them play football."
Recognizing that many would think his reasoning to be "crazy," he told of his fear of head injuries, like concussions, calling it "a scary issue." You can't fault him for wanting to keep his grandkids safe!
Poppi Cee Lo Green
At just 35, an age when many people decide to start having children of their own, Cee Lo Green became not a father, but a grandfather. In an interview with CNN, Green said, "It's a real tingly feeling to have someone recognize you so young as their own." At just 2 years old, Green's grandson was already singing bits and pieces of "Forget You." Green added, "It's out of tune, of course, but it's cute." No doubt!
Green seems to enjoy his role as grandpa. In 2016, Green shared a video of another grandchild on Twitter with the caption, "My children/grandchildren call me poppi. My lil one Izzy is my biggest fan."
In the video, Izzy can be seen in her carseat, smiling and rocking out to Green's music. When she's told the music is over, she even starts to get upset. Now that's some true fandom right there.
The teen pregnancy that transformed Sarah Palin into a grandma
Sarah Palin hasn't been at the forefront of media for some time, but she cemented her role in entertainment, perhaps somewhat accidentally, as both former vice-presidential candidate, governor of Alaska, and star of the titular reality television show Sarah Palin's Alaska. Tina Fey's SNL impersonation of the politician has undoubtedly also helped the masses to forever remember Palin.
These days, Palin is a grandmother to five. It was her first grandchild, however, that took the world by storm. In 2009, and at just 18 years old, Palin's daughter Bristol — along with fiancé Levi Johnston — welcomed son Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston. Not long before that, in April of 2008, Sarah Palin herself had just had a baby, Trig Paxson Van Palin. Not many can say they became a grandparent while still caring for a newborn of their own. The birth of Tripp made Sarah Palin a grandmother at just 44 years of age.
In the years since Tripp's birth, Bristol had two more children while Sarah Palin's son also fathered one child with now ex-girlfriend Jordan Loewe.
Great-grandmother Whoopi Goldberg
On an episode of The View in 2014, Whoopi Goldberg told her cohosts and viewers, "I have a crazy announcement." Goldberg went on to say she became a great-grandmother to a little girl named Charli Rose. Barbara Walters remarked, "You're a young great-grandmother!" Walters was right. At 58 years old, many may just be welcoming their first grandchild while Goldberg was welcoming a great-granddaughter, instead.
According to Hello magazine, Goldberg became a grandma when she was only 34 years old when her daughter Alex gave birth to a daughter of her own, Amarah Skye. But great-granddaughter Charli was the first new baby born into the family in quite some time, Goldberg confirmed by sharing an Instagram video of herself bottle-feeding the new addition. She included the caption, "I'm a tad awkward it took me a minute been a LONG time!"
As she explained in the clip, it had been a whopping 39 years. Despite the long lull of births in the Goldberg family, she's still an incredibly young grandparent.
Mama June Shannon or Grandmama June Shannon?
"Mama" June Shannon of TLC's reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo became a grandmother at the age of 33. Shannon's 18-year-old daughter Anna "Chickadee" Cardwell gave birth to a baby girl, Kaitlyn Elizabeth Clark, in July of 2012. According to People, the birth of the baby was not without controversy.
Kaitlyn was born with two thumbs and four fingers on her right hand and tabloids claimed Shannon mocked the child. Shannon told the magazine it simply wasn't true. "We have embraced [the abnormality]. It makes Kaitlyn more special to us," she explained.
Anna gave birth to another daughter, Kylee Madison Cardwell, in 2015. Then, in 2017, Shannon became a grandmother for the third time when her 17-year-old daughter Lauryn "Pumpkin" Shannon welcomed baby girl Ella Grace Efird to the family. No word on if Shannon has given her grandkids nicknames like that of "Honey Boo Boo," but it's hard to imagine them not having pseudonyms, isn't it?
Those 10 Duggar grandkids (for now)
With so many children, it may not be too surprising that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar also have a lot of grandchildren. According to Page Six, 20-year-old Joy-Anna Duggar and her husband, Austin Forsyth, had their first child in February of 2018.
"We are blessed beyond measure with the arrival of our son, Gideon Martyn Forsyth," they told Page Six. Gideon marks the tenth grandchild for Jim Bob and Michelle. Not only that, but their eleventh and twelfth grandkids are also on the way. Both Joseph Duggar and Jinger Duggar are expecting in the later months of 2018.
Surely, Jim Bob and Michelle and excited for their ever-expanding family. "Children are a blessing from the Lord," the couple wrote on their website after the arrival of Gideon. "We can't wait for this little one to grow up around all of these other grandbabies," they added. Gideon will have no shortage of playmates, that's for sure.
Kid Rock becomes Grandpa Rock
In 2015, and at just 43 years old, Kid Rock became a grandfather. That's a sentence you may have to read twice as it's pretty hard to imagine him as a doting grandpa, but it's true. When discussing his tenth studio album in an interview with Today, the rocker confirmed the new addition — a girl —by jokingly saying, "It keeps my redneck street credentials intact."
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Kid Rock wondered if being a young grandpa might even help his hip-hop street cred. "If I have any of that left," he clarified. The musician went on to say how much he enjoys having a granddaughter and how fortunate he is to have become a grandparent while relatively young. "So many things you might not see if you have kids later in life, which seems to be the trend now for most responsible adults," he told the magazine. Doting grandpa, indeed!
Kiefer Sutherland went from dad to granddad in his 30s
Even if you were to say Kiefer Sutherland became a grandfather in 2018 at the age of 51, he very well could've made this list. Nevertheless, he actually became a granddad in 2006 when he was just 39!
In an interview with Contact Music, he explained the situation, saying he got married at just 19 to a woman, Camelia, with an 8-year-old daughter. Sutherland raised Camelia's daughter as his own and, at 29 years old, she had a child of her own.
"I still share a beautiful relationship with my children, and that has been one of the greatest blessings in my life," he told Closer Weekly in 2016. Although Sutherland is incredibly grateful for his career successes, he thinks of his relationships with his family members as not only a blessing but also a "great achievement." Without question, his grandchildren would be among the familial relationships for which he is thankful.
Jim Carrey and his very odd role as grandfather
You can probably picture Jim Carrey as many, many, different things, but is grandfather one of them? Believe it or not, at 48 years old, that's exactly the role he took on and became grandpa to little Jackson Riley Santana.
In an interview with Access Hollywood, the well-known funnyman said he loves being a grandparent and even referred to himself as "Granddaddy Jim" — adorable. Carrey did admit that becoming a grandfather at only 48 years old was "very odd" and fairly unexpected. Regardless, he loves spending time with Jackson and is quite enamored by him. "I just get a lot of joy, a lot of joy from that little boy... he's just magical," Carrey explained.
You have to wonder if Carrey will teach little Jackson the ways of Hollywood or if perhaps he'll encourage him to be an artist, as Carrey has become quite the painter these days.
Grand-momager Kris Jenner
Kris Jenner is all kinds of grandma goals. By 2018 and at 62 years old, Jenner has eight grandkids. She first became a grandmother in 2008 at only 52 when Kourtney Kardashian and then husband Scott Disick welcomed a son, Mason Dash Disick. Now, at the time of this writing, the latest expectant Kardashian is Khloe. The birth of her child will make Jenner a nine-time grandmother in just ten years.
Thankfully for Jenner, she loves having many grandchildren. "It just doesn't get any better than this," she told Entertainment Tonight. Jenner went on to explain that the Kardashian-Jenner family is happy and healthy as ever.
The seasoned grandmother also admitted that she's "a spoiler" when it comes to her grand-babies but she feels that's the way it should be. She told ET, "I'm getting an A right now. I've decided I'm doing great." She may have been joking but we're sure she's a super fun and involved grandparent.