La La, who shares Kiyan with ex, Carmelo Anthony, addressed her dating life on a new episode of 'The Jennifer Hudson Show.'
When it comes to dating, La La Anthony's son, Kiyan, is protective of his mother! La La, who shares 15-year-old Kiyan with her ex, Carmelo Anthony, opened up about her dating life on a recent episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show.
"He's protective," La La said when asked if her son is as protective over her as host Jennifer Hudson says her is.
"He doesn't like it," she added of how Kiyan feels about her dating. "He doesn't like it at all. So, I'm just like, 'You just want your mom to be alone like, forever?' He's like, 'Kind of.'
La La continued, "But anytime his friends want to go out and do something, he's like, 'Alright Ma, see ya later. I'm going here. I'm like, 'You just leave me in a heartbeat, but you don't want me to have anybody.'"
The BMF actress compared it to having her dad at home watching over her.
"I'm sneaking, texting, I'm like, 'Let me call you right back,'" Anthony joked, something Hudson said she could relate to with her 13-year-old son, David.
While Kiyan may not want mom to date, La La is still teaching her son to be respectful of women, telling Hudson she leads by example.
"If I get dressed for an event or something, and I'm just leaving, he might not say anything. I'm like, 'Do you think mom looks nice?' He's like, 'Yeah mom, you look really nice.' I said, 'Just make sure you say that, because women like to hear compliments, women like people to do nice things for them.'"
"So, I start with me, so he can learn from me on how to do that," she continued. "Or I'll tell him, it's OK to have friends and if someone does something nice for you, acknowledge that. Let them know that you know, that was nice or that you feel special. It's OK to do that. I try to make sure he's in touch with things."
La La's comments about dating as a single mom come nearly two years after filing for divorce from Carmelo, after 11 years of marriage. She split from the basketball star in June 2021, citing irreconcilable differences. It was the second time the pair broke up in recent years; they previously separated in 2017 amid rumors of infidelity but appeared to reconcile in 2018.
Recounting her decision to file for divorce, La La admitted in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter it was "incredibly hard," but the choice made her realize "there’s nothing I can’t do." She argued that staying in the comfort of a long-time relationship is easier than walking away from it, however bad the circumstances might be.
"Walking away on your own and trying to rebuild a life by yourself… I was with him when he was 19 years old, like that's all I’ve known," she continued. "To step away from that and try to build my own life and still keep my sanity and keep things normal for my son who only knew his mom and his dad together -- that wasn't the easier decision, but I had to make a decision for myself. So now it’s like, wow, if I could do that, I could do anything."
Now, the two are happily co-parenting, the actress shared. "We want to be a great example to our son. We have open conversations with him. We tell him, 'You were made from love,'" she said. "We're still a family and we do things together. I don’t want my son to look at his parents like they didn't get along. He's looking at us as an example."
When it comes to her future -- without marriage -- La La previously shared with ET that she's looking for a partner whom she can have fun with, laugh with and have a good time with, and someone that "is chill and easy because that is pretty much my personality."
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