Sara Gilbert didn’t celebrate holidays with her kids before Linda Perry came into the picture. The Conners star, who married the 4 Non Blondes singer in 2014, had no holiday traditions with her kids until Perry “pushed” her own traditions on the family several years ago.
On The Conners , Gilbert’s TV family is known for their elaborate Halloween celebrations and Christmas chaos, but in real life, the 44-year-old ABC star is Jewish and doesn’t celebrate any of the holidays her Conners character does on the show.
Perry, 54, told Us Weekly that she took it upon herself to introduce the couple’s three kids — son Rhodes, 4, who they had together, and Sawyer, 12, and Levi, 15, Gilbert’s kids with her ex, Ali Adler — to all of the major holidays.
“Before me, Sara did nothing. There was no Valentine’s Day, there was no Halloween, there was no Christmas, there was jack sh*t in that family before I showed up! I introduced the kids to Halloween, Christmas — it’s a Jewish family but I brought Christmas in…I’m basically pushing my traditions,” Perry said.
As for how they handle the Santa Claus figure in their household, Perry said she and Gilbert tell little Rhodes that “this guy Santa” brings him one present but that the rest of the gifts are from his brother, sister, and parents.
“That way, you know, it’s not telling him that there’s this guy that brings presents and we don’t have anything to do with it,” Perry explained.
Perry also revealed that she and Gilbert are done having kids because Sara can longer have children. She did not elaborate but added that they “barely squeaked out” baby Rhodes when Gilbert was age 40.
Even though Gilbert spent nine seasons on the CBS chatfest The Talk, she was notoriously private about her personal life, so most fans may not have realized that she didn’t celebrate holidays with her kids until Perry came into her life in 2011.
Of course, the TV star made up for her lack of holiday spirit with her TV role as Darlene Conner on Roseanne and its ABC spinoff. The original Roseanne series featured Halloween-themed episodes every year from 1989 to 1996, with Gilbert sporting both funny and spooky costumes as the Conner clan celebrated their favorite holiday.
The Conners spinoff also featured Gilbert dressing up for the October holiday the past two years. The fictional Conner family also celebrated a “White Trash Christmas” in 1993 and matriarch Roseanne even played Santa Claus at the mall for extra cash.
