Eve Says Husband Maximillion Cooper’s 4 Kids Are Her ‘Bonus Children’: ‘I’m Very Lucky’

When Eve married her husband, Maximillion Cooper, in June 2014, she became the loving stepmom to his four kids, whom she refers to as her “bonus children.” Even though the transition wasn’t always easy, the “Gotta Man” artist feels “very lucky” to have her stepkids in her life.

“It’s been now 10 and a half years I’ve been in their lives and they’ve been in my life,” Eve, 42, gushed during a new interview with People in mid-December. “They’ve grounded me,” she said of her stepchildren, Jagger, Lotus, Mini and Cash, whom Maximillion, 48, shares with ex-wife Julie Brangstrup.

Even though Eve can’t imagine her life without them now, there was a time when she questioned whether or not she would be a good stepmom. “In the beginning, when I first met my husband, then-boyfriend, I was like, ‘This is never gonna last because you got four kids! How’s this gonna work?'” she recalled.

Fortunately, that all changed when the Talk alum was introduced to Jagger, Lotus, Mini and Cash. “I met the kids and honestly was like ‘Wow, kids are amazing,'” she sweetly marveled. However, that didn’t make her road to motherhood any easier.

“I’m not gonna lie. It did take two or three years to adjust, just our relationship with the kids,” Eve candidly revealed. “But I have to say, I’m very lucky. I feel very, very lucky that I had my insta-kids — I call them my bonus children!”

Eve proved how much her family with the Gumball 3000 founder means to her when she announced her exit from The Talk after four seasons in November. At the time, Eve pointed out the difficulty of remotely hosting the hit CBS program while living overseas amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s been a crazy year, obviously for all of us. And I’m so grateful that I’m able to stay here in London and do the show, but I can’t see for me, the foreseeable future of traveling back at the moment,” she shared with cohosts Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood and Carrie Ann Inaba. “[I] have decided that at the end of December, this will probably be my last time on the show, in this capacity as a host.”

The “Constantly Evolving” podcast host said she’d rather use that time to “concentrate” on being the best wife and stepmom. “Obviously, staying home has been such a blessing because my husband and I got to know each other in a different way, a beautiful way,” she added. “So I want to be closer to him.”

With her run on the Emmy Award-winning series coming to end, Eve is looking forward to making more memories with her kiddos. While chatting with People, the Barbershop actress said her “No. 1” plan is to focus on her “family.”

“That’s a lot of the reason why I made the decision to be here is because my husband and I were on planes every two to three weeks, and we were just exhausted,” Eve explained. “You gotta be on the same continent with your partner to have a kid! So hopefully this will help.”