The family that Stallones together, stays together — even if there are bumps along the way. Jennifer Flavin opened up about getting to know herself as an “empty nester” prior to her brief split from husband Sylvester Stallone.
On the Wednesday, May 24, episode of the family’s new reality show, The Family Stallone, Flavin, 54, reflected on how difficult it was for her to see her youngest daughter, Scarlet, 20, moving out of the house.
“My greatest joy in life is being a mom and her being the last to move out, it’s really, really difficult for me and I’m having a really hard time,” the former model — who also shares daughters Sophia, 26, and Sistine, 24, with the Rocky star, 76 — told her two eldest children in the episode. (The Creed actor is also father of late son Sage, who died at age 36 in 2012, and son Seargeoh, 44, with ex-wife Sasha Czack.)
“I just have to figure out who I am now because I don’t really know what I like to do because all I like to do is be your mom,” Flavin added, sharing in a confessional that it was “the first time I’ve had to really look deep into my heart and figure out what I like doing.”
Stallone, for his part, couldn’t join his family for his youngest’s milestone because he was in Oklahoma filming Tulsa King. To make up for it, the Rambo star surprised his youngest daughter at her new digs.
“I think it’s important to really cherish these days,” he explained to Scarlet. “You want to spend your time currency where it matters, which is here.”
After Scarlet left home, Flavin filed for divorce from Stallone in August 2022 after 25 years of marriage. (The duo previously split once before, in 1994, when The Expendables star admitted to an affair with model Janice Dickinson, though they reconciled the following year after finding out Stallone was not the father of her daughter.)
“I love my family,” the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 actor said in a statement after Flavin’s filing last summer. “We are amicably and privately addressing these personal issues.” One month later, the pair got back together.
In an October 2022 interview with The Sunday Times, Stallone got candid about what led to their split, vowing to always put his family before everything going forward.
“There was a reawakening of what was more valuable than anything, which is my love for my family. It takes precedence over my work, and that was a hard lesson to learn,” he shared, calling the brief split from his wife a “very tumultuous” time for the family. “I didn’t pay enough attention when [my kids] were growing up. I was so career-oriented, and now I go, ‘OK, I don’t have that much runway up ahead, and I want to start asking them about their lives.’”
One month later, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stallone again reflected on his past decisions to prioritize work over family, calling it “a tragic mistake which won’t happen again.”
New episodes of The Family Stallone are released every Wednesday on Paramount+.
