“Jon & Kate Plus 8” star Kate Gosselin is notoriously bad to work for. Eleven nannies quit because of her. Caring for eight children, one set of twins, and sextuplets is no walk in the park. But Gosselin’s demands made it worse. There was a pet peeve-inspired household manual to adhere to that detailed what could and could not be done inside the house.
She does not allow any item to be placed on the floor and, at nine o’clock everything must stop, even if you are in the middle of washing dishes, according to one ex-nanny.
A Degree in Becoming a Royal Nanny
These hires must attend the prestigious Norland College, established in 1892, and earn a bachelor’s degree in childhood development. Food nutrition is another year of study at Norland. They are trained in martial arts and defensive driving to fight off paparazzi and kidnappers, actual threats to royals.
Royals like to hire nannies who do not have a family, yet another sacrifice nannies are expected to make. These exclusively trained nannies are paid well, about $100,000 per year.
Maria Carry the Diva
She has high expectations and even requires her staff and her children to tell her she is beautiful each day. She has zero tolerance for nannies who are too affectionate with her children.
She says she fires them on the spot. If a nanny is trying to become more important in the baby’s eyes than the pop star, it is goodbye. She’s the queen, subjects serve. She says she hates doing it but makes no bones about it.
Madonna's Diertry Boundaries
Madonna is another pop queen who is very comfortable in her role as a diva. One nanny who quit in 2009 said she was expected to be on call around the clock. Madonna, mother of six, who has been called a control freak, also expects everyone to follow her strict “macrobiotic” vegetarian diet, a Japanese origin menu that bans all sugar, salt, preservatives, and dairy.
Everyone must eat this way, including the nanny. Even former husband Guy Ritchie had to follow that diet plan.
Nanny Confidential
Philippa Christian is a celebrity nanny who has been VIP babysitting since she was 11. She dishes on the ins and outs of celebrity life behind closed doors, but always anonymously. The pretty Australian nanny has worked for an array of wealthy elites, from famous actors to Middle Eastern royalty.
In her best-selling book “Nanny Confidential,” she shares these stories. One client did not allow her to have a boyfriend or to go out at night past 10 o’clock. She was also forbidden to drink alcohol, even on her own time. But for a $500,000 salary, she was good with it.
Kim's Way or the Highway
Kim Kardashian docked nannies $2,000 a night if she (or Kanye) was woken up. But to be fair, the Wests gave bonuses to nannies who could get the kids to sleep through the night. One of Kim’s more particular demands for nannies was choreographed walking. The reality star diva expected the kids to walk in an orderly fashion on outings.
Photographs by paparazzi are a constant hazard so she preferred the V-formation, with mom at the front and her ducklings following in rows. Fashion is paramount in the West household, so Kim organized daughter North’s wardrobe with a “digital organizer” to ensure outfits are only worn once.
No Doubt There Was a Scandal
Inevitably, nanny scandals blow up in the face of the swindled spouse. That’s how Gwen Stefani put it. Ex-husband rocker Gavin Rosedale had a years-long affair with the nanny, including while Gwen was pregnant with their youngest. He denied it at first but finally admitted it went on for three years, in the family’s home.
Text messages between the nanny Mindy Mann and the rocker were discovered in 2015 by Stefani’s other nanny. She showed it to Gwen knowing the iPad was linked to Gavin’s iPhone. The No Doubt singer says that was the day her world crumbled.
Jessica Stays Close to Earth
Jessica Simpson employs a preemptive approach when it comes to hiring a nanny. The nannies she hires are reportedly homely. Is it to dodge a nanny scandal with former NFL player and hubby Eric Johnson? We don’t know.
But her first instinct was to do motherhood on her own, sans nanny. In 2002 she said, “I want to actually be a mother. I don’t want a nanny doing everything for me.”
Using Nanny Excuses
Ben Affleck’s fling with nanny Christine Ouzounian made headlines. “Nannygate” was the choice term that went into effect after wife Jennifer Garner fired the nanny. The nanny was axed one day after the A-listers announced their divorce. Ouzounian apparently gave the paparazzi tips in order to be photographed together with the star.
Jennifer Garner makes clear that the nanny was not the reason for the split. She says she never heard about Nannygate until many months after they decided to divorce.
Gwen Changes the Game Rules
Gwen Stefani hires male nannies these days. She says it is because male nannies look better in spandex. It’s important because they are required to dress up as superheroes. One former nanny says he dressed as Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and more. The first assistant she hired after the divorce was a 46-year-old plain-looking overweight woman.
She will never again make the mistake of hiring an attractive female nanny.
Spice Up Your Life
Spice Girl Mel B and former husband Stephen Belafonte were inundated with a nanny scandal. Mel B accused the nanny of being impregnated by Belafonte which triggered the nanny, Lorraine Giles to file a defamation lawsuit. Mel B and the nanny settled it with a $2.35 million settlement.
In a seemingly ironic twist, Giles claimed that her relationship with the former Spice Girl was more substantial than with Belafonte.
Call on Jo
One former nanny of Victoria and David Beckham leaked to the tabloids that their marriage was on the rocks. The pair sued the nanny in a high-profile lawsuit that included winning a major settlement from the now-defunct tabloid, “News of the World” in 2006. The woman who once went by Posh Spice is now very particular about nannies.
She won’t allow them to speak to anyone outside the family. And nannies had to agree to be called “Jo” which is the name of a beloved former nanny who moved away. Abigail Gibson was fired for speaking to a family stylist.
One for Each Child
Zoe Saldana likes to praise her nannies. She credits them with helping her raise her children and making it possible for her and her Italian artist husband Marco Perego to have successful lives. “The Guardian of the Galaxy” actress says she employs three domestic helpers, one for each kid.
The help allow her to be away on location and they also help mom and dad deal with the pain of being away from their children.
Hay Mr. Postmasn
Charlize Theron prefers nannies to be neither be seen nor heard. Theron’s extreme privacy policy requires that nannies do not look at or speak to the supermodel. In order to communicate about the children, the nanny has to write a note which Charlize reads during her spare time.
An ex-nanny for Theron said she was also forced to journal the day’s events with the children on pen and paper. Her extreme “no-look” and “no-speak” policy is a two-way street, Theron won’t look or speak to them, according to the anonymous ex-nanny.
A Life Mentor
Jessica Alba appreciated nanny Connie Simpson’s help so much, she plugged the caregiver’s book on Instagram. Alba posted a cover photo of “The Nanny Connie Way” especially for new moms as a way to find much-needed baby support. Alba said Simpson was there from the beginning to mentor her as a new mom.
She said the famous nanny helped her with breastfeeding and taught her how to bathe and soothe her infant. Alba was happy to say that Nanny Connie returned to her home for her baby boy’s birth, ten years after she first enlisted her help.
The Secrets of Parenthood
Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake found solace as new parents in Nanny Connie. She helped them with sleep deprivation and getting the baby to sleep. She recommended drinking a beer for increasing breast milk, a dark beer is best. Biel also mentioned being encouraged to eat lots of butter while nursing, she learned it’s a big part of brain development in the baby.
The subtitle to Nanny Connie’s book is, “Secrets to Mastering the First Four Months of Parenthood,” and that’s what she provided them. Another thing Biel appreciated from the nanny’s advice was to go on date nights. Noted.
All the Single Nannies
Beyoncé required her nannies to learn the dance choreography to her hit song “Single Ladies.” The performance was meant to calm Beyoncé and Jay Z’s little Blue Ivy when mom wasn’t available to do the dance number for the bedtime routine.
We can’t imagine how these nannies who presumably can’t sing, nor dance, measured up to the pop singer herself, the couple employed six nannies to manage their three children, working in 8-hour shifts. Good pay, too at $100,000 per year.
Move Like Jagger
Mick Jagger flirted with his son’s nanny Claire Houseman and, within two days, slept with her. His wife was asleep in the next bedroom of the hotel suite. Jerry Hall, Jagger’s wife at the time, is the mother of four of his eight kids. The nanny had barely been hired when Jagger introduced himself by walking into the room dripping wet and naked after a shower.
Houseman talked about how she fell for the legendary rocker known as an epic womanizer instantaneously. She told the story about the romp in a tell-all interview. His wife eventually divorced him.
Hablas Español?
Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky are hands-on parents who have high expectations for their nannies. One requirement is that they must speak Spanish to their kids every evening before bedtime. Elsa is from Spain, so it’s important for their three kids to know the language.
But they don’t want to rely on nannies. The two made a parenting pact that at least one of them will be with the kids at all times.
The Raindrop Song
Sarah Jessica Parker had a particular prerequisite of nannies. They had to learn all the lyrics and sing “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” to the kids before bedtime. The old-fashioned song was the children’s favorite. She and her husband Matthew Broderick were very involved with the children when they were small, refusing to have a live-in nanny.
However, they employed three, one for each child. An unusual request of the help was that they conscientiously refill bottles of body wash or shampoo with specific sanitizing instructions.
Indeed, The Terminator
One of the most high-profile nanny scandals of all time happened under the roof of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. The Terminator terminated his marriage by being unfaithful to his wife with the housekeeper for 20 out of their 25 years of marriage, at the time of the split. The death knell hit when it came out that Schwarzenegger fathered a child with the nanny, Mildred Baena, former confident of Shriver.
The celebrity/political power alliance imploded the day after his governorship of California terminated. In couples therapy, Shriver’s therapist asked if Joseph Baena was his child. He said, “It’s true.”
Golden Spoons
This nanny story comes from Elena Mincheva, a Russian native who became a high-end nanny. Based on her experiences she wrote a tell-all called, “Millionaire Nanny.” She spills the drama anonymously, recounting the hard-to-believe day-to-day happenings of a wealthy but toxic family.
Once, the wife screamed at her that she’s fired, that she’s not welcome in her house, only to have the husband scream back saying the nanny stays and his wife can leave if she wants. Another crazy story she relays is that the wife demanded she feeds a 7-year-old boy with a spoon.
Some Want it All
Joe Piscopo and nanny Kimberly Driscoll had an affair. It was a serious fling that turned into marriage. The “SNL” icon divorced his wife Nancy Jones and hooked up with the then 18-year-old Kimberly who was caring for their son. Their marriage lasted 10 years and produced three children.
Next, he moved on to his personal assistant Jessica Nasoff. On an episode of “Celebrity Wife Swap,” he got clocked in the jaw by Jessica.
Halloween All Year Round
Julia Roberts had a strange request. She made her nannies wear long red wigs, styled exactly like her own hair, as part of the bedtime routine. She did that in an apparent effort to pull a fast one over the baby. A former nanny of hers said, “It was a bit weird, but I get it.
She hoped they would think it was her putting them to sleep instead of the sitter.” The A-lister is adored by her help. She’s known as one of the nicest celebrities to work for.
Phone Check
The Kardashian clan likes to say they treat their nannies like family, but Kourtney Kardashian has her own system. She doesn’t allow nannies to address her by her first name. Instead, nannies are to call her “madam.” One nanny accidentally called her Kourtney and lived to talk about it. Cell phones must be checked at the door to avoid any risk of photos getting to the tabloids. That being said, it’s a real threat.
One nanny to the stars anonymously dished that paparazzi offered $250,000 for one photo of her celeb employer, with the price upped each week.
No Touching Please
Halle Berry had one of the harshest job descriptions for nannies. She did not allow the caregivers to hug, snuggle, or kiss the children. Simply put, the actress didn’t want Nahla and Maceo to be more attached to the nanny than their mother. But for nannies who generally adore children, it’s so extra.
She is very protective over her kids, not allowing their faces shown on social media until lately. She posted an Instagram photo of Maceo on his eighth birthday, but his face was partially concealed.
You Got to Speak the Language
Angelina Jolie has had an army of nannies to attend to her brood. She prefers no rules or routines, ever since becoming a single mother. She also does not permit any negative feelings or emotions displayed around children. Nannies for Jolie children are required to have a 4-year degree education in childhood development plus be fluent in multiple languages.
For each nanny of the adopted children, she or he must know the native language of the nation the children were adopted from. Compensation is significant, nannies to Jolie’s and Pitt’s kids earn up to $150,000.
A Few of My Favorite Things
Ethan Hawke married nanny, Ryan Hawke. She was Ethan Hawke’s and Uma Thurman’s nanny until 2005 when the secret got out. Hawke and Thurman shared one daughter and one son during their seven-year marriage beginning in 1998. Ethan and Ryan Hawke have two daughters.
When quizzed by “New York Magazine,” Hawke replied, “I wasn’t prepared for this to be a public thing. But I’ll tell you this: I liken my situation to ‘The Sound of Music,’ not to Jude Law.”
A Story Worth Millions
Jude Law and nanny Daisy Wright were entangled in a month-long affair. It ended when Law’s fiancé and “Alfie” co-star Sienna Miller learned about it from a child under Daisy’s care who told Sienna about seeing them together. Sienna fired the nanny who then took the story to the British tabloids. She shared explicitly intimate details about the hookup, making it one of Hollywood’s most scandalous affairs.
Law, on his part, blamed Sienna for his infidelity. The couple met on the set of “Alfie,” split up in 2006, but then gave it another shot in 2009, which ultimately ended in 2010.
A Weekend Mummy
Australian beauty Miranda Kerr makes sure to send her choice of nanny whenever her boys are with dad Orlando Bloom. She says she is just trying to help him out. (It’s not that she doesn’t trust him.) When she remarried Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel, the two merged a $10 billion net worth.
Nannies for Miranda Kerr have seen some posh perks. One former nanny named Shada said she was gifted a Range Rover. Kerr divulged that she uses full-time nannies, but they get weekends off. That leaves her with three to care for all weekend. She said, “It’s a lot.”
The Truth Will Always Win
Rob Lowe and his nanny Jessica Gibson sued and counter-sued each other. She alleged he made obscene advances and was unfaithful to his wife Sheryl Lowe. And she threatened to tell all unless the Lowes paid her a $1.5 million blackmail fee. Rob Lowe immediately filed for defamation, saying the nanny was scheming against him and telling lies.
The he-said, she-said drama only ended when both parties agreed to drop their case. It was a peek into the lifestyle of the rich and famous. The nanny said she adored the Lowes’ two sons but not the consistent harassment. The truth is out there.
Third Time's the Charm
Meghan Markle at first seemed to rely on her mother, Doria Ragland to help care for baby Archie. But, after two weeks, the mother of the Duchess left Frogmore and returned home. Later, it came out that there were three nannies hired within Archie’s first three months. The third is said to be a royal match that has been described as a “godsend.”
The first two nannies were rumored to quit because Meghan was overly possessive of the infant, she wouldn’t allow anyone else to be alone with her newborn. Finding the right match in a nanny is a balancing act.
Klum to the Rescue
Heidi Klum is known for employing a crew of three nannies for her four children. She’s a hands-on mom, but she accepts help. One time, it was Klum who pitched in and saved the day. A spring break trip to Oahu found the former supermodel rescuing her son and two of her nannies from a strong riptide.
She didn’t do it all on her own, her boyfriend and bodyguard Martin Kristen dove into the water with her as soon as they heard her son Henry and his nannies crying for help.
Pay the Fine
A nanny at the home of “Southern Charm” star Thomas Ravenel found herself in a dangerous situation. She was there to care for his baby daughter, at the time. The nanny who prefers privacy said that the actor came home from a party inebriated and locked her inside his bedroom.
He plead guilty and was convicted of assault and battery and sentenced to 30-days plus a monetary settlement.
Set a 9 O'clock Curfew
“Jon & Kate Plus 8” star Kate Gosselin is notoriously bad to work for. Eleven nannies quit because of her. Caring for eight children, one set of twins, and sextuplets is no walk in the park. But Gosselin’s demands made it worse. There was a pet peeve-inspired household manual to adhere to that detailed what could and could not be done inside the house.
She does not allow any item to be placed on the floor and, at nine o’clock everything must stop, even if you are in the middle of washing dishes, according to one ex-nanny.
Social Media Care
Chrissy Teigen loves her nannies but does not hire pretty or handsome nannies. Teigen shared on Twitter that she and John Legend have four nannies for their two children. She wrote, “We have 4 incredible people, not all at once. One will rotate and stay through the night.”
On Instagram, she posted gratitude for her household staff and nannies. She is open about it because she doesn’t want to take credit for managing it on her own. She also has her mother living in the house helping out.
Suri Bluze
Katie Holmes once fired a nanny because she allowed her daughter Suri to paint her bedroom wall black. But it wasn’t all the nanny’s fault. The former wife of Tom Cruise said that Suri could paint her bedroom walls with any kind of decoration she wanted. She gave her free reign so she could express her creative side.
Katie, expecting a colorful mural, did not appreciate Suri’s apparent affinity for modern art so the nanny was canned.
As Bad as It Gets
In an interview on “Dancing With the Stars”, Sara Evans announced that her marriage ended traumatically. Another Nannygate. She said, “Things drastically went downhill at 100 miles an hour.” It all came out after the lawsuits were filed. She accused her husband Craig Schelske of being unfaithful to her with Alison Clinton, the nanny for their three children and friend of Evans. But it’s complicated.
Schelske, a Republican fundraiser, fired back with a lawsuit accusing Sara Evans of being unfaithful to him. The nanny filed her own lawsuit for defamation. It is one of the messiest nanny-involved scandals on record.
Three Is a crowd
Jon Gosselin from “Jon & Kate Plus 8” was not home free after his divorce from Kate. Former nanny Stephanie Santoro spilled the beans about a relationship she shared with Jon. The month-long story happened after he filed for divorce. But he was still being unfaithful to someone.
He was dating Hailey Glassman at the time and even asked Stephanie to lie to Hailey to prevent her from breaking up with him. At the same time, the nanny also revealed that Jon told her Hailey was not the woman he wants to spend his life with. All non-disclosure agreements to the wind.
Daddy Rules
Nannies at Nicole Richie’s place must enforce her stringent no-sugar rules. The children are also to be kept free of processed foods. There are a lot of rules, like no battery-operated toys and no plastics. The only person who gets away with feeding the children off-menu items is their dad.
Joel Madden spoils them with pizza on occasion, and she is okay with dad singing to his own tune. Richie says there is no right way to mother. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is not to judge and to be open and honest with other women.”
The Way Things Go Down Under
Nicole Kidman’s nannies greeted the kids in the morning with “G’day mate!” Never, “Good morning.” It’s one of the ways the star kept her Aussie roots alive in the kids. One nanny who was hired during Kidman and Tom Cruise’s marriage said the couple was so busy that she never saw the two kids with Kidman.
In her book called, “You’ll Never Nanny in this Town Again,” Suzanne Hansen said she did most of the work raising the A-listers’ two adopted kids. From Kidman’s perspective, they are diligent parents who ensured that one parent was always home with the children.
The Baby Whisperer
Kylie Jenner only wanted a family to care for her newborn daughter at first. That all changed when she was up with the baby for three straight nights. But when she decided to ask for help, she had a lot of rules. A nanny for Stormi must be fashionable, decorous, and a baby charmer. No photos, ever.
Besides being a baby whisperer, she or he must be a dog whisperer too. After all background checks and nondisclosure agreements, a nanny for Kylie has one more hurdle; she must score high at an audition.
Nanny on Screen
Amy Poehler is another A-lister who isn’t afraid to appreciate the help. “I’m successful at work, because of my nanny,” the comedian wrote in an essay for “Elle.” She has two nannies for her two children. One comes from Trinidad and the other from Tibet. Poehler, as we’d expect, makes light of her nanny dependency.
In an “SNL” lampoon of Taylor Swift’s music video, she employed her actual nannies to play the pop queen’s nannies in the parody of “Bad Blood.”
Magic Mike
Jenna Dewan appreciates nanny praise for a post-baby body. She says it’s not fair to other moms who think they can snap back so swiftly. She is a single mom but she gets a lot of help. Daddy Channing Tatum also recognized his baby’s nanny when he said that he was sleeping more than most people who don’t have a nanny.
It took him a few weeks to come around to help with the baby due to his “Magic Mike” commitment, according to Jenna.
As Long as You Bring the Broccoli
Kris Jenner’s ex-nanny admits the Queen of the Kardashians was a bear to work for. Pam Behan said she nearly quit when Kris unleashed on her for forgetting to pick up some broccoli. Kris held to a strict “no excuses” policy and she was very controlling. Behan stuck it out and now can say she helped raise Kourtney, Kim, Khloe, and Robert.
There were some perks. Behan dated Kardashian friend Sylvester Stallone and had access to the family credit card. She had some wonderful times with the family. She wrote a book about it, “Malibu Nanny: Adventures of the Former Kardashian Nanny.”
Let the Beatle Sing
Heather Mills, formerly married to Paul McCartney, found their daughter’s nanny taking Mills to court. This is yet another example of the way bringing in household help gets complicated. The nanny filed charges of unfair dismissal and discrimination, but the court rejected her lawsuit.
The nanny claimed she was exploited and asked to do tasks beyond childcare. Mills was devastated as she had treated Mills like a daughter, even purchasing a car for her at one point to show appreciation.
Mistake or Miss Take
Eva Amurri fired a nanny for a good reason. The nanny who was caring for the couple’s 18-month-old daughter sent a text to the baby girl’s dad, sportscaster Kyle Martino. It was sent on accident. She believed she was sending it to a girlfriend. He had recently texted her to see what time she would arrive to watch the toddler and she mistakenly replied.
The message that was meant for her girlfriend was very suggestive with explicit details about how attracted she was with the father. He showed it to his wife and Amurri fired the nanny.
No Pain No Gain
Blac Chyna is totally cool with relying on nannies to maintain her posh lifestyle. This is according to the Kardashian family. She employs three helpers to manage her two children because she is one busy momma. It’s not only a vibrant social life that fills her calendar, but she also runs a makeup line and a salon in L.A. This glamorous girl keeps up with her children.
She took legal action against Dream’s dad Rob Kardashian and his nanny after she was injured with burn injuries for the second time.
Two of a kind
“Marcella” star Anna Friel adores her nannies. She even stated that she would not have the showbiz career she has without their help. It takes two nannies to care for her child, a night shift and a day shift helper. She says she doesn’t have to worry about packing lunches, reading bedtime stories, or giving baths.
“Those two ladies are the ones I respect more than anyone I can think of. They have given me everything.” For a single mom, she sure has it made.
A Comedian Way of Life
Robin Williams married his son’s nanny. His first wife Valerie Velardi opened up about the late, great comedian in an HBO documentary film called “Come Inside My Mind.” Williams’ wife of 10 years talked about his infidelity and how she allowed him to have an open marriage.
He filed for divorce from her in 1988 and married former nanny Marsha Garces. She was pregnant when they married, and they went on to have another child together.