Brooke Shields Shares Emotional Reaction to Having an Empty Nest as Daughters Head to College: ‘Terrified’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Brooke Shieldsis officially an empty nester.

The actress, 59, and her two daughters Grier, 18, and Rowan, 21, spoke with PEOPLE for this week’s cover story shortly before the girls both departed for college.

“I’m terrified!” Shields tells PEOPLE of her girls going away.

“I’m worried about me, just as much as I’m worried about her,” jokes Grier.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Brooke Shields with her two daughters.courtesy Brooke Shields

courtesy Brooke Shields

“Feelings are fraught,” says Rowan, who will be a senior this year at Wake Forest University, where Grier is set to join as a freshman. “I mean, I’ve already done it, and she was a mess. I think she’s really busy now, which is good. Swamp her with work!”

“Off the record, I’m hoping you and Dad rekindle the flame,” Rowan jokes of Shields' longtime husband Chris Henchy.

For Shields, it’s a bittersweet moment as her daughters spread their wings and move out of the nest, becoming their own person.

“All of a sudden they are not yours anymore,” Shields says. “When you realize they are their own human beings, you get to meet them again.”

Shields with her daughters and husband Henchy.courtesy Brooke Shields

On Monday, Aug. 26, the mom of two shared an emotional videoon Instagramafter she dropped her daughters off at college. “It’s not easy for the moms. I mean, it’s just so weird. So weird that she’s not here,” Shields said in her Reel.

“Anyway it was really hard and then she started crying and then I really started crying and then I cried a good portion of the ride home. So anyway, I’m an empty nester,” she shared.

Even though her daughters are now all grown up, it doesn’t seem so long ago that Shields remembers bringing her girls home from the hospital.

“It feels like yesterday that I brought them home from the hospital,” she tells PEOPLE. “If I thought about it too much I would sob. Because I miss that."

For more on Brooke Shields and her daughters, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE.

source: people.com