Taylor Armstrong is facing a new chapter of her life after her 18-year-old daughter, Kennedy, graduates from high school this year.
“My daughter is graduating high school and it’s a little hard. She’s my only child,” the Real Housewives of Orange County alum, 52, told Us Weekly while attending the Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center’s West Hollywood grand opening on Thursday, April 25, adding that she’s trying to “think about things” she can do after Kennedy leaves the house so she’s not “completely devastated,” including leaning on her friends.
“I’m just trying to make sure I nurture my friendship garden so that we can all be in it together when our kids all go away,” she noted.
While Taylor shared that Kennedy, whom she shared with her late ex-husband Russell Armstrong, isn’t quite sure what she wants to do with her future, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum explained that she’s trying to let her daughter decide for herself without getting too involved.
“At this point, I found that it’s best for me to let go a little bit when it comes to letting her make her own decisions,” she told Us. “I’ve raised her as best I can, and I trust her implicitly. She’s a good kid, and I just know at this point rather than telling her what to do, I’ll just say, ‘You make your own decision.’”
Although Taylor wants to let Kennedy make her own choices in life, she does have some advice for her on romantic missteps she hopes that Kennedy can avoid.
“I think the biggest thing, and I hope that she learned from my mistakes, is to recognize the red flags in relationships early on,” she explained. “And deviate, don’t run toward the red flags. … I think that after seeing what my life was like, hopefully she’s learned that lesson.”
Taylor married Russell in 2005 before filing for divorce from him in July 2011, citing physical and verbal abuse. One month after their split, Russell died by suicide at the age of 47. Three years after his death, Taylor tied the knot with John H. Bluher.
Taylor’s past relationship trauma is one reason why she isn’t too keen on Kennedy watching any of her past reality shows.
“That’s not something that I would want her to go back and experience,” she shared with Us, adding that although she experienced some difficult times, it is a “fun” show. “[The Real Housewives] Ultimate Girl Trip season 2, we had a blast. If she wanted to laugh at it and have fun with it, that’d be great. As long as we’re having fun, I don’t want her to see me hurting.”
While Taylor has starred on RHOBH and later RHOC, which she left last year, Kennedy isn’t too interested in becoming a reality TV personality.
“I would be fine with it if she wanted to do it. I just know that Kennedy’s very stubborn, and she’s not going to let somebody talk her into doing anything she doesn’t want to do,” she explained. “She’s very strong-willed and so she would not let anyone manipulate her, so I don’t know if she’d be a good cast member. She might just put her foot down on everything.”
