Nicole Richie feared her kids would have a ‘big discovery’ about her wild party days-Rebecca Sayce-Entertainment – Metro

Nicole Richie’s children are in the know when it comes to their mum’s controversial past (Picture: Getty)

Nicole Richie has revealed she is ‘transparent’ with her kids about her own wild-child past.

Nicole, 43, shares daughter Harlow, 16, and son Sparrow, 15, with her Good Charlotte rocker husband Joel Madden, 45.

After rising to fame in The Simple Life in the early 2000s alongside socialite Paris Hilton, 43, the duo were known for their hard-partying Hollywood lifestyle.

At the height of her career, Richie faced numerous legal issues and rehab stints in her journey to sobriety.

Now, the reality TV star and entrepreneur shared that she tries to be completely honest with her teenage children about her younger years.

‘I just so clearly remember what it’s like to be a teenager,’ she told Glamour. ‘It feels like it happened yesterday for me. And they know everything I did.’

Nicole shares Sparrow and Harlow with husband Joel Madden (Picture: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

The star has said she is open with her teenage children about her younger years (Picture: WireImage)

Her turbulent young life was documented on hit 2000s reality show The Simple Life (Picture: Tyler Kohlhoff/GLAMOUR)

Nicole and Paris recently reunited on a new project (Picture: Tyler Kohlhoff/GLAMOUR)

The Candidly Nicole star continued: ‘I knew before I had them that I was going to have to be transparent with them about who I was

‘And I’ve actually found freedom in that. I didn’t want my kids having some big discovery about me. And I’ve always been very open and honest with my kids and hope that they are open and honest with me.’

Having recently filmed a three-part reunion special, Paris & Nicole: The Encore, Nicole reflected on their years in the spotlight as young adults.

‘I think it took a heavier toll on me than I could have admitted even to myself at the moment,’ she admitted, adding she could see the impact negative media attention had on her emotional wellbeing.

‘It makes me really proud of women that we’ve come such a long way to say, “That’s actually not okay”.’

Last year, Nicole’s father Lionel Richie opened up about how his daughter’s hard-partying years ‘almost killed him.’

Appearing on Drew Barrymore’s talk show, the music icon explained how those years watching his daughter and Paris, and at times Drew, get in trouble was at times terrifying.

‘If I lived through that I can live through anything,’ he said.

The Simple Life stars ‘almost killed’ Nicole’s father Lionel due to their party lifestyle (Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage)

Lionel described how his daughter’s legal issues affected him (Picture: River Callaway/Variety via Getty Images)

After Drew hugged him and said they’d all got the partying out of their systems, Lionel said he wanted to share his side of the story.

‘You all almost killed me,’ he laughed. ‘So I’m so glad you got it out of your systems.

‘I almost cut my system off if you know what I’m saying. I mean I almost lost consciousness.’

He recalled how he would sometimes get calls from the police in the middle of the night saying Nicole was in custody and his first thought was: ‘What has she done now?’

Speaking about one infamous time when Nicole was arrested after driving the wrong way down a freeway, Lionel said: ‘I was thinking to myself, this isn’t possible, this can’t be right.’

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