EXCLUSIVE: The World's Most Famous Celebrity Stepparents Spill All About Marriage Meaning Blended Families – For Better or Worse!
Famous celebrity stepparents have shared their views on marriage and blended families, for better or worse.
Feb. 22 2026, Published 9:00 a.m. ET
Celeb stepparents share what it's like when getting married means blending families – for better or for worse.
Here, RadarOnline.com reveals who they are.
Antonio Banderas
Presenting stepfather Antonio Banderas with an award recently, Dakota Johnson revealed that despite the 65-year-old's 2015 divorce from her mom, Melanie Griffith, 68, she still considers him part of the family.
"I come from a family of many a marriage, and I got lucky," the 36-year-old said (mom Griffith has had three husbands; dad Don Johnson, 75, has had four). "I got a bonus dad, who I realized, over time, is actually one of the most influential people in my whole life."
Dakota Johnson said Antonio Banderas remains family despite his divorce from her mother, Melanie Griffith.
Gwyneth Paltrow
In a recent Goop podcast, Gwyneth Paltrow chatted with her husband, Brad Falchuk, 54, about some stepparenting regrets. After their 2018 wedding, the pair didn't move in together for a year, in deference to her kids, Apple Martin, 21, and Moses Martin, 19, and his children, Isabella, 21, and Brody, 18.
"We were trying to kind of land the plane very, very gently and slowly and get everybody on board," Paltrow, 53, explained. "But I'm not sure that it didn't just prolong that thing of, like, we don't know what we're doing."
Gwyneth Paltrow told husband Brad Falchuk on the Goop podcast blending families after marriage brought regrets.
Gabrielle Union
Before 53-year-old Gabriel Union welcomed daughter Kaavia, 7, with husband Dwyane Wade, 43, she was already the stepmom to his three kids, Zaya, 18, Zaire, 23, and Xavier, 12, and nephew Dahveon, 24.
"What I realized very quickly is you will never, ever – I don't care if the other parent is dead – you will never be able to replace the other parent," the actress shared, adding, "That is not your job."
Blake Shelton
It takes one to know one!
"I have a stepfather in my life who's one of my heroes," Blake Shelton, 49, said after marrying Gwen Stefani, 56, and becoming the stepdad to her kids, Kingston, 19, Zuma, 17, and Apollo, 11.
"I love my stepfather, and I look up to him, and he's like a father to me, so I have good inspiration in my life for how to do this and the kind of stepdad I want to be."
Blake Shelton said becoming stepdad to Gwen Stefani's children was inspired by his own stepfather.
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Catherine Zeta-Jones
Wednesday star, Catherine Zeta-Jones, plays an aloof mom on the Netflix hit, but her stepson, Cameron, 47, has nothing but good things to say about the 56-year-old, who wed his dad, Michael Douglas, 81, in 2000.
"When she came into our family, it could so easily have gone another way," Cameron said of Zeta-Jones, now mom to Dylan, 25, and Carys, 22.
"You hear stories all the time about the younger stepmother pushing away the kids from the previous marriage. But from the first day I met her, she said, 'I want us to be friends, and I want you to know that you are a huge part of our family.'"
