Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid has shared her thoughts on Robert De Niro welcoming his seventh child at 79.
On Tuesday, The Godfather actor surprised many when he confirmed that he had become a father for the seventh time several months before his 80th birthday while promoting his comedy, About My Father.
ET Canada presenter Brittnee Blair stated during their chat: “I know you have six kids,” to which the actor corrected her, replying: “Seven, actually. I just had a baby.”
The veteran actor then went on to share his approach to fatherhood with the host, sharing: “I mean, there’s no way around it with kids. I don’t like to have to lay down the law and stuff like that.
“But, [sometimes] you just have no choice.
“And any parent, I think, would say the same thing. You always want to do the right thing by the children and give them the benefit of the doubt, but sometimes you can’t.”
A rep for the actor later confirmed The Standard that De Niro is now a father of seven, although it’s unclear who the mother is.
In light of his surprising news, GMB hosts Susanna Reid and her co-host Ed Balls had their say on the matter.
Reid said that she could see why some fans of De Niro see his decision to have a child at 79 as “self-indulgent” and “selfish”.
While Balls admitted he felt it was “wrong” to have a child at his stage of life, explaining that by the time his child will be 18 and at university, the actor will be close to 100 years-old, remarking, “if he is still alive, that is”.
It has not been confirmed who the baby’s mother is, but PageSix have reported that the actor is dating Tai Chi instructor Tiffany Chen after they met on the set of his 2015 movie The Intern.
De Niro welcomed his first two children, Drena, 51, and son Raphael, 46, with his first wife, American actor Diahnne Abbott, who he was married to from 1976 to 1988.
Then in 1995, he welcomed twin sons Julian and Aaron, 27, with his former girlfriend, model Toukie Smith.
The Oscar winner also has two children, son Elliot, 25, and daughter Helen Grace, 11, with ex-wife Grace Hightower.
