Mandy Moore is reflecting on how some of her friendships have changed since becoming a parent.
“Do you feel like you have seen friendships sort of take a different course?” the This Is Us star, 41, asked podcaster Cameron Rogers on the Wednesday, January 14, episode of Rogers’ “Conversations With Cam” podcast.
Moore continued, “I have friends who have kids that are older, and I have found that the people I’m closest with in my life right now are people who are at the same chapter of their lives as parents. Like, we have kids the same age. I’ve had to sort of mourn in a way, not the loss of those friendships, but how they’ve changed.”
Rogers assured Moore that it’s only natural for moms with children close in age to gravitate toward each other.
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“I have friends who have kids the exact same age as mine. I have friends who have kids that are older. … The reality is, you’re going to be more in contact with people who are your [kids’] exact age,” said the podcast host.
Moore admitted that her changing friendships with some of the people in her life had “caught me off guard.”
“I’ve been surprised by it,” said the actress, who shares sons August, 4, and Oscar, 3, and daughter Louise, 15 months, with husband Taylor Goldsmith.
She explained, “I just assumed all of these relationships would continue to … not that they don’t serve me, but, they wouldn’t be the first people I would reach out to right now when I’m like, ‘Gus has changed his mind seven times about what he wants to be for Halloween.’”
Moore has found herself embroiled in social media speculation about a “toxic” group of mom friends in recent weeks after actress Ashley Tisdale French wrote an essay earlier this month about how she quit a mom group that had turned sour.
“I remember being left out of a couple of group hangs, and I knew about them because Instagram made sure it fed me every single photo and Instagram Story,” she wrote for New York Magazine’s The Cut. “I was starting to feel frozen out of the group, noticing every way that they seemed to exclude me. … I told myself it was all in my head, and it wasn’t a big deal. And yet, I could sense a growing distance between me and the other members of the group, who seemed to not even care that I wasn’t around much.”
While Tisdale French did not name anyone in particular, the High School Musical star has in the past documented playdates with other celebrities, including Moore, Meghan Trainor and Hilary Duff, all of whom also have young children. (Tisdale French’s representative previously denied that her essay was about the trio.)
During Wednesday’s podcast appearance, Moore touched on the genesis of her celebrity mom group, crediting Duff, 38, for its creation.
“So, I think the origin story is all kind of having pandemic babies,” Moore said. “Hilary Duff is a very dear friend of mine. She and her husband, Matt [Koma], are very close with me and Taylor, my husband. [Duff’s daughter] Mae-Mae was born six weeks after Gus, and she is the ultimate mom. She has four kids now, but at the time, Mae was her third. She was a boss. She was just like, ‘We need a music class. We need community.’ So she started this music class at her house and gathered a group of incredible women, and I brought a few into the fold as well.”
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Moore continued, “We evolved from music class to movement class to just all hanging out. People get together for holidays, people get together for birthdays, we go to the zoo … all the things you do collectively as a friends group.”
The A Walk to Remember star also shared an insight into the group’s close bond.
“The moms chat is always popping off with questions, comments, concerns, fun gossip … all the things,” Moore said. “They mean everything. We all just went away a couple of weeks ago to Ojai [in California]. We did a quick little 24 hours away from our families and celebrated Hilary’s birthday belatedly.”
