NEWSNancy O’Dell Takes Kids on Royal Wedding Trip
Apr. 28 2011, Published 12:15 p.m. ET
Nancy O’Dell is beginning her gig with Entertainment Tonight in style – by taking her entire family along with her to cover to the royal wedding!
The former Access Hollywood anchor, 45, is joined by her hubby Keith Zubulevich, daughter Ashby, 3, stepsons Tyler, 14, and Carson, 12, as well as her parents-in-law, during the two-week stint in London.
For Nancy, incorporating her family life into her work life is par for the course.
“I try to combine some of the things that I want to do with spending time with my kids,” she tells me during a Hershey’s Moderation Nation event in NYC. “Like physical activity. I was so excited to discover not long ago that they loved dodge ball. I don’t know how that game started at the house, all of a sudden they started playing it, and that’s something we’ve done every weekend since. “
She adds, “We try to combine those moments – if I need to run to the store to buy something, then I go ‘Ashby, let’s go to the store!’ I’ll teach her things along the way. I’ll say ‘let’s go ride the carousel at the mall’ while we’re there. So it’s trying to combine the things that you need to do with fun things for your kids, because that gets them out to experience new things. Sometimes I think you think ‘oh, I’ve gotta go run these errands, so I’ve gotta leave the kids and have them stay at home.’ It’s like ‘no, take them with you.’”
Still, the decision to take her family along to the royal wedding wasn’t automatic.
“I sat there and I thought maybe I shouldn’t take them out of school, and I’m like ‘traveling is one of the biggest things you can do educationally’ so we want to take them and teach them the history that we can. We’re going to try to go over to Rome and see some history about Rome. Just the fact that they’re learning where London is and the royal family - who that is - and teach them the difference between the countries. To me, it’s so educational. Instead of thinking, ‘oh my gosh, I can’t do that,’ I try to think the opposite ways of involving them in a lot of things that I do.”
Although Nancy won’t be inside the royal wedding, she’ll be outside at Westminster Abbey. She’s teeming with excitement.
“Everybody’s so fascinated by the royal wedding. I think it starts early. Disney does that, because my daughter’s already obsessed with princesses. She watches one Disney movie, and she’s obsessed. That ingrains in your mind the idea of princes, princesses, queens and kings. It seems so fascinating! The whole fascination with people who are dubbed royalty begins at a young age. ”
Despite not being invited to the actual ceremony, Nancy is happy to share a special message with Prince William and Princess-to-be Kate.
“Through all the craziness, remember it’s just about each other,” she says. “Try and remain each other’s best friends. It can be difficult for them to remember it’s about them two, with all the pomp and circumstance, but in the end that’s what it’s all about. When you get to be a certain age, when you live the rest of your life, it comes down to that. I hope they can remain each other’s best friend through it all.”
Here’s my pic with Nancy:
Nancy O’Dell has partnered with the Hershey Center for Health & Nutrition® to launch a new fitness activity, called Moderation Nation Batuka Break, that will get Americans on their feet in a fun, family-friendly way – through dance.
