Entertainment
To be fair, not all men give off a strong "dad" vibe. There are some men in Hollywood — Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, and Ryan Reynolds, to name a few — who have made being a dad one of their best attributes. Their names are becoming synonymous with a new kind of fatherhood, the kind where you co-parent your children and don't say things like, "I'm babysitting the kids." Because yuck. Still, there are some men in Hollywood who have kept the whole dad-thing under wraps, whether out of privacy concerns or because they just tend to keep to themselves. These seven celebrities you didn't know were dads are proof that they exist.
In some cases, these guys didn't know they were dads right away either. In others, they're just trying to protect their personal lives. But they all have one thing in common: They have been quietly parenting away from the spotlight for some time.
Whether or not the following celebs surprise you, of course, is beyond the point: All of these dads are probably doting parents that love their kids immensely, no matter what their public personas might convey. And despite the fact that they don't talk about their families much, they're undoubtedly proud papas all the same.
Simon Cowell
Back in 2013 the famously blunt American Idol and X Factor judge made headlines when it was reported that he was expecting a baby with New York socialite Lauren Silverman, who was still married to his friend Andrew Silverman at the time. Ultimately, the union succeeded and the pair are now raising little Eric Cowell (who looks just like his dad, by the way) together. All's well that end's well.
Hugh Grant
Notorious "serial monogamist" Hugh Grant managed to avoid the parent trap for most of his 55 years. The actor then went on a baby spree, fathering four children with two different girlfriends in four years. Go big or go home, right?
Turns out Grant is seriously enjoying fatherhood, telling Us Magazine in February 2015 that his kids had "made [him] much nicer."
Benecio Del Toro
This hyper-private dad made headlines when he and ex-girlfriend Kimberly Stewart (Rod Stewart's daughter) announced they were expecting a child. While the pair didn't stay together, they have been co-parenting daughter Delilah (LOVE the name) amicably for four years.
Giovanni Ribisi
Actor and Scientologist Ribisi is the father of 18-year-old Lucia with ex-wife Mariah O'Brien. As a side note, this news has shocked me to my core, because I thought Ribisi was only 18 years old himself. (Man, he looks young.)
Matt LeBlanc
OK, so I wasn't hugely surprised to find out Matt LeBlanc (Joey from Friends, like you didn't know) was a dad. He gives off excellent hot-dad vibes, I think. While his marriage to British model Melissa McKnight did not last, the two are currently busy co-parenting their 12-year-old daughter Marina, away from the limelight.
Ludacris
Rapper Ludacris is the father of three daughters, Karma, 14, Kai, 2, and Cadence, 1. The Fast and the Furious actor has actually been relatively open about his life as a dad, compared to the others on this list; Just recently, he even brought his eldest and her friends along on a special Make-A-Wish go-kart venture, joking in an Instagram post, "Brought my big girls out. Parents have to teach valuable lessons."
Usher
Usher and his ex-wife Tameka Foster have two sons: Usher V, 7, and Nyavid, 6, both of whom live full time with their dad. In a 2012 interview with Oprah, the singer opened up about how his own rocky childhood, growing up without a father, had made him into a better dad. "Having not had a father," he said, "that was all of the reason to be a good father, because I didn't have it."
Despite the fact that all the aforementioned famous fathers haven't always been in the public eye for their roles as parents, it's safe to say that they still love their kids just as much as their more vocal counterparts.
