Denise Richards reveals her children 'felt insecure' being dropped at Charlie Sheen's gate after divorce

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Denise Richards recently shared her experience of being a single mother while she was involved in a contentious divorce from her ex-husband, Charlie Sheen, in 2006.

In a recent appearance at ‘Just B with Bethenny Frankel’ on Thursday, December 21, Richards shared that she had to leave the couple’s children at the gate while dropping them off at Sheen’s residence.

‘I wasn't allowed to go up to the house’

Richards shared in the podcast, "So in the beginning with Charlie and I, and I'm sure he'll be fine that I'm talking about this and I'm sure he'll probably say it too, we were not getting along at all.”

She added, “And it was harder when he was with his other ex. When they got together, it was very difficult. I wasn't allowed to go up to the house," per PEOPLE.

Sharing that she had to drop their two daughters - Sami, 19, and Lola Rose, 18 - at their father’s gate, Richards added, "I had to drop the kids off at the gate and have someone drive them through the gate to the house.”

She continued saying that it “was very difficult for the kids because then they feel insecure, adding their thoughts, 'How come mom can't come to the house?'"

Denise Richards asked Charlie Sheen to ‘fake it’ for the sake of their daughters

She went on to share that she tried to make Sheen understand that they did not need to be best friends, but being cordial for the sake of their daughters would do. 

She asked the actor to "fake it" and be cordial with each other, "otherwise they would feel so insecure and right away, not safe."

She explained, "Because 'if mom can't come in, why are we going in there?' You know what I mean?"

Denise Richards says she ‘never wanted girls to hate their dad’

Despite the animosity between the estranged couple, she said she “never wanted the girls to hate their dad.”

Richards explained, "I wanted them to have a good relationship because I have such an amazing relationship with my father and with my mom. So that's why I really wanted us to work hard at keeping it healthy and positive and not say anything bad about him.”

Towards that end, she even had to ask everyone in her house not to talk negatively about Sheen. Richards continued, "I would tell everyone in my house, do not talk negatively about their dad. Do not say a word. I went overboard actually, to the point where when things did go the way they did, they were shocked. Like, how come they didn't know this?"

'I did them a disservice when they were younger'

Richards earlier shared with 'Real Housewives of Dubai' star Caroline Stanbury on her 'Divorced Not Dead' podcast in August 2023, that "many things" led to her divorce from Sheen.

She shared, “The behind-the-scenes stuff was way worse than what was out there,” before adding, "It's very funny because a lot of people think on the outside, things are great," per Today.

She added, “I never wanted the girls to — and I don’t know, maybe I did them a disservice, there’s no handbook for this, especially when you’re in the public too, and you have to deal with all this crap — but I never wanted them to sense any discord between us because I didn’t want them to feel unsettled."

“I did shelter them a lot, and then they started to get to an age where ‘so and so said this,’ and I lied my ass off and covered for him,” Richards noted, before continuing, “Now as they’re starting to get older, they’re more aware of more things. That’s why I say I don’t know if I did them a disservice when they were younger.”