Chrissy Teigen just announced a major shift in her family dynamic ― and it might catch even her most loyal followers off guard.
During a stop by Today Show Radio’s “The Happy Hour” this week, Teigen revealed that her mom, Vilailuck “Pepper” Teigen, recently moved back to her native Thailand after spending years living with the model’s growing family, which includes husband John Legend.
“We haven’t really told the world or the internets, and everyone is going to be probably so confused,” Chrissy Teigen said on the SiriusXM program.
“She is meant to go live her best life. She, you know, obviously loves taking care of her grandchildren. … But seeing her every day at home doing that, and being there with us, was so special and so amazing. But she’s young enough that she needs to go off and be happy.”
For years, Pepper Teigen has regularly made appearances on social media, in interviews and in public with her daughter’s family. Fans celebrated when she became a U.S. citizen in 2018, and regularly laughed along at the mother and daughter’s antics.
While Chrissy Teigen said that it was her mom’s decision to leave, she also talked about why she was so supportive of the move.
“She has a group of girlfriends out there that she just, she changes ― she lights up when she sees them,” the model said. “And I wasn’t seeing her light up as much, you know, without them. And she needs to go find love and find, you know, whatever it is she wants. She pretends that she doesn’t care about that kind of stuff, and she just cares about her grandbabies and her friends. But I wanted that for her.”
The former “Lip Sync Battle” host said that the family misses her “so much,” but that her mom checks in with daily FaceTime chats.
“She’s only been gone for a couple of weeks, but you feel the void,” Chrissy Teigen said, later adding that she has never “really been on my own.”
“It’s weird waking up and knowing, like, ‘Oh, my God, I’ve got four kids, and Mom’s not here.’ And, of course, we have help, but there’s nobody like your mother.”
Amanda Edwards via Getty Images
When her mother left, the “Cravings” cookbook author said that “I felt it in my bones,” explaining that she didn’t quite process the move until her mom’s car was ready to pick her up for the airport.
“I had not shed a tear. I was really excited for her,” Teigen recalled. “And then I heard ’30 minutes until your car gets here,′ and then I just lost it.”