During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, the duo detailed their complicated relationships with their mothers and how it still impacts them.
“I relate to your journey so much; I feel like I have a lot to learn from you,” Drew said during the interview.
Jennette admitted that she, too, felt an “immediate connection” with Drew as they discussed the relationship they always dreamed of having with their moms.
“I think when it comes to our moms, we want so badly to have this relationship. It is nature, it is nurture, it’s evolution,” Drew said.
Jennette agreed, noting that for so long she put her mom on a “pedestal” and wasn’t able to open up to her therapist about what was really happening.
“Immediately I went into, ‘Well, she did this, but it’s because she’s such a good mom! It’s because she wanted me to be successful!’ I was so defensive. I didn’t realize I was at the time,” Jennette said.
She continued, “In retrospect, I see I was disclaiming every single thing my mom did instead of just stating the reality or how I felt about it. I was more concerned with how to keep my mom looking good than expressing my true emotional reality.”
Jennette’s comments opened up Drew to having an “a-ha moment,” sharing that perhaps it was “protectiveness” that she had felt toward her mom.
“I’ve never put it in those terms in my head. It’s like I don’t want to paint her negatively. I don’t want people to think of her negatively, but the truth is tough stuff,” Drew said.
The duo went on to lament on how they had both always wanted a “good family” but were never able to get what they needed as children.
“It took me a long time to accept that my mom was not perfect, let alone abusive,” Jennette said.
Thankfully, Jennette has spent a lot of time talking through things in therapy, and Drew says she, personally, is “now doing great.”
