Irina Shayk reveals how she and Bradley Cooper make co-parenting daughter Lea ‘work’

Irina Shayk has shared details about her co-parenting relationship with ex Bradley Cooper.

The supermodel, 37, opened up about sharing custody of her six-year-old daughter, Lea, with the Silver Linings Playbook star in an interview with Elle published on 8 November. In the interview, Shayk revealed that she and Cooper always put their daughter first, despite their busy schedules.

“We both take Lea everywhere with us. She’s super easy,” she told the outlet. Shayk went on to recall how her daughter sat and drew in a colouring book for an hour while she was working out. When the mother-daughter duo then went to a Michael Kors fitting, Lea drew the designer a “kitty cat” and he “gave her a bag” in return.

The Russian-born model admitted that she and Cooper, who grew up outside of Philadelphia, both come from “normal backgrounds” far different from Lea’s childhood in New York City. However, Shayk revealed that neither of them have hired a nanny for their daughter, so as to give her as regular an upbringing as possible.

“Looking at my daughter now, she’s growing up in a completely different environment,” Shayk said. “She lives in the West Village. She went to all these countries in two months. But we want her to know the value of stuff. We want to show our daughter: ‘You have to work hard to get something.’”

Even when Cooper is away shooting a film, Shayk admitted that they “always find a way” to make their co-parenting schedule work for both of them. “He’s the best father Lea and I could dream of. It always works, but it always works because we make it work,” she said.

The supermodel previously admitted in March 2021 that she “never understood” the term co-parenting. “When I’m with my daughter, I’m 100 per cent a mother, and when she’s with her dad, he’s 100 per cent her dad. Co-parenting is parenting,” she told Elle at the time.

Although the former couple split in 2019 after four years together, they’ve remained close for the sake of their daughter. In August, Shayk and Cooper took their daughter on vacation together to Italy. In a post shared to her Instagram Story during their getaway, the model shared a black and white snap of The Hangover star lying in a kayak on the water.

The pair also posed for a photo together on another family vacation in August 2022. In the smiling image, Shayk and Cooper could be seen smiling for the camera and feeding a group of pigs, as she rested her head on the actor’s shoulder.

While Shayk has been open about her co-parenting relationship with Cooper, she was not as quick to address rumours she’s dating retired NFL star Tom Brady. “No comment,” Shayk told Elle, when asked about her rumoured love interest.

The model maintained that she chooses to keep certain aspects of her life private, including who she’s dating. “I share my work stuff because I decided to keep my personal life personal,” Shayk said. “That’s why it’s called personal, because it’s something that belongs to me. If one day I feel like I want to share it, I will.”

Back in July, Shayk and Brady sparked romance rumours when they were spotted together in Los Angeles. In photos obtained byPage Six, the pair were photographed in a car, with the former quarterback sitting in the driver’s seat and smiling at Shayk in the passenger’s seat. One photo also appeared to show Brady’s hand placed on Shayk’s face while they were at a stoplight.

A source claimed to People that the rumoured couple “have been in touch for a few weeks” and that “there is a spark” between them. “There is an attraction, the source claimed, adding that Shayk and Brady “have never been involved romantically before”.

Just last month, however, insiders told the outlet that Brady and Shayk’s rumoured relationship has “fizzled out” since the summer. “Irina was very attracted to Tom. She liked dating him. It excited her,” one source said. "They had fun travelling to see each other. In the end, it kind of just fizzled.”

“They both keep having obligations, and it was getting more difficult to be in the same city at the same time,” they continued. “Irina has nothing but great things to say about Tom.”

A second source added that “there’s no drama” between Brady and Shayk following the split.

Meanwhile, Cooper is currently romantically linked to fellow model Gigi Hadid. The two first sparked romance rumours in early October, when they were spotted having dinner together in New York City. Cooper and Hadid, 27, were later photographed taking a stroll in the Big Apple - where the actor could be seen sporting a pair of Ellen Degeneres-branded boxers peeking above his pants waistband.