Inside Dannielynn Birkhead's Surprisingly Normal World

So the information that Larry has described his no-longer-so-little girl—who turned 18 Sept. 7—as fearless, the benignant of idiosyncratic who embraces each the twists, turns and heart-dropping falls that travel her way? Yeah, that checks out.  

“You are my full heart,” the arrogant dada wrote successful an Instagram tribute to his girl connected her birthday, which she marked with a Beetlejuice-themed celebration. “I emotion you much than I tin ever express. May you proceed connected your travel being ‘humble and kind’ and dispersed the emotion that you were fixed to galore others. I americium beyond arrogant of you.”

And implicit the years, Larry has worked hard to guarantee Dannielynn's lone rollercoaster rides are of the literal variety.

Despite the stranger-than-fiction events surrounding her commencement and archetypal fewer months, the teen leads a beingness that's, by each accounts, reasonably standard: graduating from precocious school, practicing her driving skills, cosplaying astatine conventions, listening to Larry's favourite tunes (they hit up a Duran Duran concert for Father's Day past year) and she ever does her champion to instrumentality the worst imaginable selfies of her dad. 

And the 2 are inactive choky capable to program associated Halloween costumes (in 2018 they chose an Exorcist theme), bask family trips to Dollywood and Walt Disney World and marque their yearly pilgrimage to the Kentucky Derby. In fact, Larry joked successful a 2023 day tribute, "By the way, erstwhile you asked maine if you could unrecorded successful my basement everlastingly I said yes, but I didn’t person the bosom to archer you determination aren’t immoderate basements successful Florida."

And the father-daughter duo ne'er miss a infinitesimal to sermon Anna Nicole's legacy. Though they usually people the Feb. 8 day of her decease with barroom and his champion stories, "In our house, each time is Anna day," helium told E! News successful 2019. "We speech astir her and retrieve her each the time." 

For Larry, it's a accidental to hone successful connected the positives of the beingness helium experienced with Anna Nicole. "When we speech astir Anna Nicole, determination were a batch of blessed moments for her," helium said successful a February 2021 20/20 special. "There were a batch of highs earlier determination were a batch of lows." 

Continued Larry, "Anna should beryllium remembered arsenic this larger-than-life fig that was truly a caring, giving person. A beauteous woman who loved her fans and loved her family."

Like astir parents, particularly azygous ones, the University of Louisville alum, 51, says his days are filled vacillating betwixt assorted roles. "Sometimes you consciousness similar a bodyguard, sometimes you consciousness similar a chauffeur," helium joked to Us Weekly in 2017. "It depends connected what the time is. But my occupation is dada and I deliberation I've done a beauteous bully job. She's adjusted to it and she's conscionable a mean kid." 

Thrust into fatherhood with 1 DNA test, Larry made immoderate drawback decisions to springiness his girl a beingness befitting your modular kid alternatively than the fishbowl-like beingness immoderate personage offspring are subjected to. His archetypal determination was to his hometown of Louisville, immoderate 2,000 miles removed from Hollywood's glare. "It takes distant the chase," he said on the Today Show successful 2016 of beingness successful the Midwest, "it takes distant the curiosity, it takes distant the mendacious stories."

In Kentucky, "life has been truly large and quiescent by design," Larry, who's since relocated to Florida, told E! News. "It's fixed Dannielynn a large foundation, too. She is concentrating connected schoolhouse and has adjacent made the Honor Roll!" 

It's the benignant of milestone helium mightiness casually notation to Howard K. Stern, the erstwhile foes present really beauteous close. As Larry tells it, the dueling dads rapidly realized it was clip to behave arsenic the grown-ups successful the concern and Anna Nicole's erstwhile lawyer and person swiftly dropped any custodial claims.

"He conscionable said, 'Look, you've got to get strong. You've got to beryllium determination for Dannielynn,'" Larry recalled successful an interrogation with ABC News' 20/20. "The infinitesimal aft the paternity trial was over...he's helping maine alteration Dannielynn's diaper, [showing me], 'This is however you provender her,'...it's been nonstop since then."

The brace person maintained their relationship, a erstwhile tentative relationship transitioning into a existent bond. "We enactment unneurotic connected worldly each the time," Larry told E! News. "He gives proposal and reaches retired to us. Some radical whitethorn deliberation it's weird, but he's a bully person and has been existent supportive." 

As for Larry, his paternal instincts kicked successful beauteous quickly and helium learned to perceive to his gut. 

Like the clip Guess approached asking if his then-6-year-old girl would similar to airs for the marque that made her ma a household name. Defending himself from critics who were speedy to outcry exploitation, Larry explained the stint was much astir connecting with the parent she ne'er knew than investigating retired aboriginal vocation opportunities.

"Dannielynn has ever looked up to her mom's representation and...I deliberation that this is benignant of Dannielynn's mode of paying tribute to her ma successful her ain peculiar way," he said on Good Morning America successful 2012. "To spot her mom's representation adjacent to hers arsenic a Guess miss and say, 'Hey, I was a Guess Kids girl, my mommy was a Guess girl,' that mightiness beryllium her lone transportation with her mom."

Instagram / Larry Birkhead

Because, of course, determination are moments erstwhile it's wide she's not your mean teen, similar erstwhile she spots herself connected the screen of a tabloid successful the supermarket checkout enactment oregon asks conscionable 1 much time, "Daaaaadddd, wherefore can't I person a YouTube channel?"  

While others her property tin simply goof astir connected the video-sharing tract oregon fantasize astir the benignant of clip that mightiness assistance them spell viral, Larry has to punctual his girl that thing she posted would get monolithic traction. "I inactive person to pass her that, you know, your person mightiness person a YouTube account, but if you person a YouTube relationship that's different," helium told Us Weekly, "because radical cognize who you are."

Instead, she frequents the tract for constitution tutorials and dreams of 1 time starting her ain cosmetics oregon covering line. Or possibly solving crimes. "She takes a forensic people successful precocious school, and she enjoys it, truthful she's starting to speech astir that, which is large due to the fact that I similar to ticker Dateline," Larry revealed to People successful 2023. However, helium allowed, "you cognize however kids do. They tin accidental this today, but tomorrow, she's into thing else."

Instagram/ Getty Images

And it not like he's uninterested successful uncovering love...

"I've been connected a fewer dates," helium antecedently insisted to E! News, "but I'm not connected dating sites oregon thing similar that!" Though the lensman and location flipper willingly signed connected for a stint on The Millionaire Matchmaker backmost successful 2014 it's conscionable hard to day arsenic a azygous parent. Tougher inactive erstwhile prospective girlfriends cognize each past item astir your ex. 

And conversations astir Anna Nicole are thing he'd similar to permission betwixt him and his daughter. 

They've surely had immoderate awkward ones, similar the clip Dannielynn asked wherefore her Wikipedia leafage says her surname was Stern erstwhile she was a baby. Really, immoderate clip you're discussing your Wikipedia page, you've ventured far away from the modular father-daughter talking topics.

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Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Because, overmuch similar Mom, she sprints toward beingness with nary fears, acceptable to rotation with the ups, the downs and the loop-the-loops. "I'm going connected amusement parkland roller coasters doing 200-foot drops holding connected to her and she says, 'I told you the past time, bash not clasp connected to me!'" helium marveled. "Sometimes you conscionable person to say, 'I gotta fto you spell and go your ain person.' You tin lone bash truthful much. Sometimes I'm amazed by the mode she handles things."

(Originally published Feb. 8, 2019, at 6 a.m. PT)