Jesse Tyler Ferguson Says Parenting in Real Life Is Nothing Like ‘Modern Family’
May 24, 2023
You’d think that playing a dad on “Modern Family” for 11 seasons would have helped prepare Jesse Tyler Ferguson for parenting — but nope!
The Emmy-nominated actor is the proud dad to 2-year-old Beckett and 6-month-old Sullivan with husband Justin Mikita.
During his appearance on the May 24 episode of “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” Jesse told Jennifer Hudson that parenting on TV is way easier than parenting in real life.
“Here’s the thing about TV kids,” he started. “When I have the baby on ‘Modern Family,’ they get fussy and three people come and swoop the baby away and a second baby comes.”
“That doesn’t happen in real life,” Jesse said. “No one swoops in and hands you a non-fussy baby.”
However, Jesse does credit his “Modern Family” co-star Julie Bowen, who played his sister on the show, with helping him navigate the early days of parenting. He told JHud that Julie gave him lots of guidance about juggling work and kids.
“I’m a new dad, and she has kids who are teenagers now,” he said. “She’s been doing this a lot longer than I have, so I just take whatever advice she gives me.”
Julie happened to be Jesse’s first guest on his new podcast “Dinner’s On Me,” which features long conversations between Jesse and a celebrity guest chatting about anything and everything over dinner.
Besides Julie, the podcast’s debut season features conversations with Kristen Bell, Jesse Williams, Fred Armisen, and Niecy Nash-Betts.
“It’s basically me taking friends of mine out to dinner,” he explained. “You really let your guard down when you’re sitting at a meal. That’s what I really wanted to do — have more nuanced long-form conversations with people I already adore so much.”
“The Jennifer Hudson Show” airs weekdays. Here’s when to watch in your area.
