After discussing her strained relationship with her father, Dennis, back in June, the Laguna Beach alum detailed what it was like to grow up with her dad and why she was so “scared” of him.
Kristin Cavallari is opening up about her strained relationship with her father, admitting she often lived in fear of him growing up.
On Tuesday’s episode of her Let’s Be Honest podcast, the 38-year-old Hills alum revealed that she’s determined to parent her three kids differently after feeling “scared s–tless” around her dad, Dennis, as a child.
“I just was never really honest with him, where I got to experience not getting in trouble for being honest because I was terrified of my dad,” Kristin told listeners.
“I was always so, so scared of my dad. I mean, God, I never wanted to be around my dad, if I’m being completely honest. Like, he just always made me uncomfortable,” she continued, adding that it felt like Dennis was “always judging” her.
Cavallari explained that while her father encouraged her to be open with him, his behavior made that feel impossible.
“I probably would have tried that with my mom. But I never really had the opportunity with my dad because I was so scared s–tless of my dad,” she said, noting that she completely “trusted” her mother, Judith.
Kristin, who shares sons Camden, 13, Jaxon, 11, and daughter Saylor, nine, with ex-husband Jay Cutler, said she now emphasizes with her kids that “honesty is the most important thing” to her.
In June, Cavallari revealed on Harry Jowsey’s Boyfriend Material podcast that she had “always had a rough relationship” with Dennis and ultimately cut ties with him three years ago after he “crossed the line with one of my boys.”
Kristin Cavallari Details ‘Brutal’ Birth Story Where She Felt Like She Was ‘Ripping in Half’
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“That’s a deal breaker for me, especially when he had zero accountability and no apology,” she said at the time. “He traumatized my kids. And I have no room for that in my life, and so that was it.”
She also claimed her father hasn’t tried to reconcile. “I would be like, ‘I am so f–king sorry.’ Showing up at your house, like, doing everything imaginable, and my dad in a lot of ways was like, ‘OK.'”
Cavallari has since described Dennis as a “narcissist,” which she believes played a role in their fractured bond. She also made clear that their estrangement has nothing to do with addiction issues.
