Jack Osbourne and his wife, Aree Gearhart, are expecting their second child — his fifth in total — and they were able to share the news with Ozzy Osbourne before the rocker’s death in July.
The former Osbournes star, 40, told The Sun on Sunday in an interview published on Saturday, December 5, that Ozzy learned he was going to be a grandfather over the summer. Jack described his wife’s pregnancy as a welcome relief from the grief his family has experienced over Ozzy’s death at age 76 following a battle with Parkinson’s.
“It’s awesome,” Jack told the publication. “I think it’s been partly a healthy distraction, partly healing – probably in that kind of ‘full cycle’ category, in a weird way.”
He went on, “It’s very much taken energy out of the grieving side of things and parked in a bit more hopefulness. It’s been easy for me – I think it’s been a lot harder for my wife!”
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Jack shared the happy news after being eliminated from the British reality series I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, despite lasting 20 days in the jungles of Australia. (He finished in sixth place overall on the U.K. reality competition.)
“We’re super-excited [for the baby],” he added. “It was sort of planned, I should say. It was maybe a little earlier than expected. But it’s definitely something that we were wanting to pursue and somehow it happened, miraculously.”
Jack has three daughters — Pearl Clementine, 13, Andy Rose, 10, and Minnie Theodora, 7 — from his marriage to first wife Lisa Stelly, which ended in divorce in March 2019. The reality star and his second wife, Aree, welcomed their first baby together, Maple Artemis, 3, in July 2022.
The Osbourne family shared the very sad news in July that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ozzy had died following a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s.
“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” Ozzy’s family told Us Weekly at the time. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
In September, Jack opened up about the loss of his dad in a YouTube vlog, where he revealed he was at home in Los Angeles when he learned of Ozzy’s death in the U.K.
“I woke up in Los Angeles to a knock at my house door, at around 3:45 in the morning. Someone who’s worked for my family for probably 30 years now was knocking on my door. When I looked through my window and saw it was him, I just knew something bad had happened,” he recalled.
Once he let his family’s employee into the house, Jack received the heartbreaking news “that [his] father had passed.”
“Immediately, I don’t know … just pain. Sadness and pain,” he acknowledged. “So many thoughts. You go through this of like, feeling sad and frustrated and angry. … But there was a level of like, OK, he’s not suffering anymore, he’s not struggling, and that is something.”
Jack had noticed a steady decline in his father’s health in recent years. Ozzy notably had to be seated while performing at his last-ever concert in Birmingham, England, in July, which took place only three weeks before the Black Sabbath frontman’s death.
“I wish he was still with us all, but he was having a rough go, and I think people saw that at the show,” Jack admitted.
While Jack was competing on I’m a Celebrity, his mother, Sharon, and sister, Kelly Osbourne, publicly marked what would have been Ozzy’s 77th birthday on Wednesday, December 3.
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Alongside a highlight reel of Ozzy’s iconic performances, Sharon wrote via Instagram: “My darling husband, I celebrate the day you were born. I will never let go of your hand until I see you on the other side.”
Kelly shared her own tribute, writing: “Life without you is hard, but not a day goes by that I don’t dedicate my life to loving you and your legacy! I miss you more than anything in the world. I love you until eternity! What I would not give to watch you blow out just one more candle.”
