Paloma Faith reveals she dislikes the word ‘co-parenting’ as fathers shouldn’t be ‘over applauded’ for ‘actually parenting’ their children

Paloma Faith has revealed that she hates the word ‘co-parenting’ because dads shouldn’t be ‘unduly applauded’ for ‘actually parenting’ their children.

The singer, 42, split from her ex Leyman Lahcine, 36, in 2022 after nine years together and they share two daughters.

Paloma previously said their new co-parenting arrangement feels “very modern – Gwyneth Paltrow-y.”

And Paloma said again on the subject on Wednesday’s Lorraine: ‘I don’t like the word co-parent because co implies it’s 50/50 and I don’t believe that’s the case. There are certainly some men who do a lot of work.

‘But in most cases it is the woman who has to deal with the mental strain of parenthood and who has to deal with it most of the time.’

She continued, “I’m not saying I don’t think the father of my children is great, but I think we should say what’s really happening and not give the men too many compliments.

“So I don’t use the word ‘co-parent’, I say ‘oh my kids go to their dad’s a few nights a week’ and I’m so happy that they do and that they have a lovely dad,” but let’s Don’t give them too many compliments because they get it all the time… Let’s not give them too many compliments because they’re actually parenting.’

Paloma has opened up about the breakdown of her marriage in her upcoming memoir.

In the new book Milf: Motherhood, Identity Love and F***ery, which will be published next Thursday, Paloma describes the painful sex she struggled with for up to two years after pregnancy.

The hitmaker admitted she was desperate to reconnect with her husband and felt guilty that the pair hadn’t had sex in seven months since she gave birth.

Paloma shared an exclusive extract from the book with The Sun, writing: ‘Nothing for me has been as painful as the first time I had sex after giving birth.

‘I felt guilty because it had been seven months since I gave birth, so I thought I had to try.’

She admitted that it took about two years for sex to stop feeling painful, adding: ‘I finally decided to shudder through it. I wanted to reconnect with my partner. If I’m honest, I’ve resigned myself to a life of painful sex for the rest of my days.’

Paloma said that after suffering after the birth of her first daughter in December 2016, the pain returned after the birth of her second in February 2021.

The star said she stopped having sex altogether because she no longer enjoyed it and instead decided to grin and bare it once a fortnight.

Paloma previously revealed that her heartbreak over her divorce from ex Leyman “will be forever” because they have children together.

Speaking to Jamie Laing on his Great Company podcast last month, Paloma opened up about navigating the split as co-parents and her new ‘heartbreak album’.

“I think this is an ongoing navigation because we have children together,” she said.

‘And that makes this a different kind of love album. The heartbreak will be forever and the navigation of our relationship will forever change shape, probably until we die.”

Paloma also admitted that the pain is “very raw” when she and Leyman see each other “because of the kids.”

Paloma said of how heartbreak differs when you have children: “Some people, you know, just because you don’t see them, some people never talk anymore.

‘And they’re still very present because you look at your children and you see that person in your children, or they come back from visiting your ex-partner and they do the mannerisms or they have opinions that you don’t agree with are with it or their opinion or whatever.’

But Paloma said it’s even harder for her and Leyman because they still love each other, which can make things confusing.

She said: ‘But in my case it’s even harder, I think, in a way because we really, really liked each other. We are very close and we still love each other and that makes it confusing.

‘That’s really sad. So it’s a little heartbreaking. Every time we see each other it’s just really raw because of the kids.”

In March, Paloma admitted that having children with Leyman led to the breakdown of their marriage.

When addressing their divorce, she confessed that becoming a parent irreversibly changed their relationship because she couldn’t give Leyman the same attention as before.

Speaking to the Independent, she said: ‘Either you grow together, adapting to each other like expandable foam and filling in the gaps where it is empty – or one person grows and the other stays the same.

‘And I think becoming a mother for me was such a hugely life-changing experience that for the first time in my life I needed more than nothing – and the expandable foam just wasn’t there.’

She was brutally honest, adding, “Our relationship ended because we have those kids. And I think it was worth it.”

In February, Paloma became even more candid about her split from Leyman, explaining that “resentment built up” when she could no longer “put him first.”

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