Cheryl Ladd Made It to 42 Years with 1st Husband's Close Friend — They Have Beautiful Blended Family Now

• "Charlie's Angels" star Cheryl Ladd admitted that the franchise destroyed her first marriage.

• She then married her first husband's close friend and built a blended family with him.

• She now has three grandchildren, who she adores, and she still practices yoga ta 71.

“Charlie's Angels" is one of the biggest TV franchises, and any one of the women who starred as one of the angels skyrocketed to fame almost without trying. The same was true for Cheryl Ladd when she first appeared on the screen.

While Ladd's career was taking off exponentially, her private life suffered. The grueling work days led to her being away from home more often than not and left her spouse feeling lonely.

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When Ladd got the role in "Charlie's Angels," she was told that she would be replacing Farrah Fawcett. However, she was not keen on the idea and did not believe she could fill Fawcett's shoes in the films.

Eventually, she accepted the role and began filming the movie. She agreed to be Fawcett's little sister and knew that she would be able to play the part well enough without feeling the pressure of replacing Fawcett.

While Ladd said she was grateful to land a role on the show and built herself a career that would span decades, she admitted that the show broke up her marriage with her first husband, David Ladd.

She revealed that the work days while she was filming "Charlie's Angels" were too long, and she was away from her husband and her daughter, Jordan, too often. The couple divorced shortly after that.

The separation served Ladd and David well as they both moved on. Ladd eventually married David's close friend. Yet, their shared daughter was hurt by their divorce and struggled to come to terms with it.

Ladd Moved on to Her Ex-Husband's Friend

Shortly after she divorced her first husband, Ladd found solace in the arms of Brian Russel. The pair soon got married, and Ladd became a stepmother to Russell's daughter from his previous marriage to Brenda Russell.

The pair worked together for many years and often gushed about how wonderful the other was. They also seamlessly blended their families, and Ladd confessed that she thought of Russell's daughter as her own.

In fact, Ladd mentioned that she hated it when the girls left the family home and she and Russell became empty-nesters, although she also admitted that there was an element of excitement.

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Talking about what it was like for her and Russell when both of their daughters moved out, Ladd said:

"I went from two girls to no children, and I was a little bipolar about that. Part of me sat on the bed and cried, "I miss the girls!" The other side said, "Honey, we can run around naked!" But yes, it is a big change."

Ladd and Russell didn't end up having any children together, but they did plan to at one stage. When Ladd and Russell first got married, they shared that they would love to welcome a child together, but they wanted to wait until the time was right.

Their schedules were busy, and they already had two daughters to focus on. They decided they would take time to work on themselves and blend their families before considering a new addition.

However, despite their wishes to become parents to a common child, the pair never welcomed any children of their own. Yet Ladd did say that she found more time to be a mother and wife once she stopped filming "Charlie's Angels."

When the actress stopped filming "Charlie's Angels," she found herself stuck in a loop of doing only TV movies and believed that nobody would take her seriously as an actress. However, she was okay with it.

When talking about why it didn't bother her that she never made it to the silver screen, she mused:

"I didn't get to be Julia Roberts, but I have a great husband and two wonderful children, and I've gotten to work with some wonderful actors and played a lot of interesting roles. I feel guilty even thinking I should complain about any of it."

Her daughter, Jordan, seemed to share the same sentiments. She followed in her mother's acting footsteps but also soon found out that it was not easy to be an actress or land the roles you wanted.

She revealed that she had difficulty coming to grips with how complex the industry was and what she needed to do to land the roles she was after. She sometimes found it difficult and discouraging.

After trying to get many roles and only being able to land a few, her career did eventually begin taking off around 1997. She said:

"I love my family; I love my work. I'm in love. I just feel so lucky."

Ladd and Russell are Grandparents to Three

Although it's been a long time since Ladd took the screen in a bikini to fight crime, she is still working at 71 years old. In April 2022, it was announced that she would be starring in a movie called "A Cowgirl's Song."

Talking about what made her agree to a role like this one at 71 years old, Ladd said:

"I loved the movie," Ladd said. "I loved the script when I read it. I knew it was something I had to do, and I get to sing in it. So that was special."

She shared that many things help her to stay looking and feeling young. One of the things she mentioned is that she has a good relationship with her faith and leans on it immensely.

While Ladd had something that was helping to keep her mind young and in shape, she also talked about what it was that helped to keep her body healthy and slim, too. Ladd said that she still does yoga at 71 years old, which allows her to stay fit.

However, yoga could not help every part of her body, and Ladd said that she had to have cataract surgery because she could no longer see colors or drive without feeling afraid, as she had lost depth perception.

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She shared that she got trifocal lenses, which have changed her life. Talking about the surgery, she said:

"I have my eyesight that I had when I was twelve. I'm not kidding. It gave me my life back."

Now that she can see correctly again, she can properly enjoy her life with all the people she loves. These people include her daughters, husband, and three grandchildren, to whom she loves being a grandma.

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Not only is Ladd's life whole with her daughters and grandchildren, but she is also still very much in love with Russell. The pair are still seen kissing in public, and Ladd often shares photos of them on her social media.