Children of celebrities can sometimes experience the downsides of fame, missing quality time and everyday moments with parents who are often busy in their professional world. That dynamic was described by Alexis Stewart, the daughter of Martha Stewart and Andrew Stewart.
While Martha Stewart built a career as a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and TV host, her daughter often felt neglected because of her parents’ busy schedules. While Martha Stewart shared lifestyle advice with audiences, Alexis later said her home life felt lacking, and she spent much of her time with her au pair, Nancy Beningo.
Martha Stewart acknowledged this in an interview with PEOPLE, saying, “We were too involved in our professional lives and fixing up the house. We were always making the home into a mythological place. But it wasn’t a home — we didn’t spend enough time with Lexi.”
Martha Stewart guides us through making her daughter Alexis’s colorful, vegetarian chopped salad, that just might become your new favorite. pic.twitter.com/QjaM23tSM1
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) November 13, 2024
The fact that Alexis did not have much of a happy childhood was also confirmed by her au pair, Nancy Beningo, who told the New York Post, “She just didn’t seem to be the happiest little person.” Alexis herself has been quite open about the kind of childhood she had growing up and how that affected her.
However, despite having a childhood with a pair of absent parents, Alexis performed well academically, describing herself as “nerdy.” Her mother, on the other hand, would encourage her to rebel and not follow the rules of getting home on time. Alexis, however, turned out to be different as she was always home on time and focused on her studies.
Alexis’ memories of the holidays at home are also marked with sadness. In her book “Whateverland: Learning to Live Here,” Alexis mentioned that she did not get dressed up at Halloween, and her family also did not welcome trick-or-treaters. As she mentioned, she wrote that they would turn off the lights and pretend not to be home.
Christmas was also not great for Alexis. While her mother turned up on television, teaching people how to have the most perfect holiday with their families, she herself remained unavailable for even wrapping the Christmas gifts.
As per Alexis, her mother would hand her the Christmas gifts and ask her to wrap them without looking inside. Moreover, if the wrapping was not approved by her mother, she would have had to do them again.
Martha Stewart admits that she had her fair share of challenges as a mother.
In her new documentary, “Martha,” Stewart talked about becoming a mother when her daughter, Alexis, was born in 1965. https://t.co/scPvrOxthD
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 30, 2024
While Alexis is still in touch with her mother despite the latter being overly critical of her cooking and presentation skills, she is not in contact with her father, whom she found creepy. Martha and Andrew had a tumultuous relationship where both of them cheated. The couple ultimately got divorced after 29 years of marriage.
Besides her childhood struggles, Alexis also found her own journey to motherhood quite difficult. She became the mother of a daughter, whom she named Jude, in 2001 after half a decade of trying. She later welcomed a son, Truman, in 2012.
Growing up in a home where her parents were not only busy working but also had affairs, Alexis’ childhood turned out to be quite different and tragic despite her mother being an icon and having considerable wealth to ensure that she grew up with money.
