Emily Ratajkowski says ‘life is just beginning’ in Elle UK interview

The We Are Your Friends star, 31, recalled her ‘awkward and painful’ twenties in a new interview
Emily Ratajkowski said her ‘life is just beginning’ now she’s single
Petros/ELLE UK
Lisa McLoughlin 9 November 2022
The Weekender

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Emily Ratajkowski has spoken candidly about the toll becoming a first-time mother has had on her identity.

The star, who is mum son, Sylvester Apollo, admitted that it feels like her life is “just beginning” five months on from splitting from her husband Sebastian Bear-Mcclard.

She told the Elle UK: “You sacrifice so much of your identity when you become a mother. And I feel like my life is just beginning.

“My twenties felt like how people describe their teenage years, where you’re like, ‘God, that was awkward and painful.’

“And as much as I did things that I love, I’m also just like, ‘Goodbye!’ Now, for the first time, I am enjoying the world more.

“And yet now I have this incredible responsibility of raising a child. But one thing I have decided is how I want Sly to think about women. I want him to have an example of a mom who is happy.”

Read the full story in this month’s Elle magazine
Petros/ELLE UK

Not only does the model feel like her life’s just beginning, but Ratajkowski explained that she’s in a place in her life where she wants to step into her “b***h era” and live without a focus on her beauty.

The Gone Girl actress shared: “For most of my life, much of my job was presenting myself as beautiful and that’s how I made money.

“And then, as I wanted to be taken seriously as a writer, it was kind of the opposite. I would cover myself up or not put on make-up, because I’d want writers to think of me as somebody who didn’t care about those things.

“Right now, I’m in a place where I do not care! I will wear whatever the hell I want, as much make-up as I want, and make myself feel good, which sometimes means being sexy and sometimes doesn’t.

The actress said she is experiencing her life differently now she’s single
Petros/ELLE UK

“I made a TikTok where I was like, ‘I’m in my b*tch era,’ and I really mean it. We should all be in our b***h era. I’m so tired of adjusting.

“Maybe this is coming out of Covid, being 31, or being recently single... We’ll see. Maybe I will regret it.”

In July, it was revealed that she had split from husband Bear-McClard after four years of marriage.

The couple were first linked on Valentine’s Day in 2018 and tied the knot in a surprise ceremony at New York’s City Hall that same month after a few weeks of dating.

The December / January issue of ELLE UK is on sale from 10 November

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