Milo Ventimiglia planned to be a 'wonderparent'
Actor Milo Ventimiglia has revealed he wanted to be a "wonderparent" when his first child was born but his plans were derailed when the family lost their home in the California wild fires just two weeks before the birth.
Milo Ventimiglia wanted to be a "wonderparent" when his first child was born but the plan was derailed when his home burned down.
The Heroes star, 48, became a first time dad in January 2025 when he welcomed daughter Ke'ala with his wife Jarah Mariano just two weeks after the couple lost their home in the California wild fires - and Milo has now admitted the disaster made him rethink his big plans for being a new dad.
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he explained: "Listen, my wife is the most unbelievable - Jarah, if you’re watching, you are the most unbelievable human being, creature, species of everything. She handles everything great.
"But you know, I mean, when you’re a first parent too, you kind of think you’re going to be this wonderparent.
"I was striving to. I’m like: 'Cool man, I’m going to be the healthiest, we’re going to feed this baby organic, we’re going to buy blenders, do all this stuff, we’re going to go argue with some dude named Kale about blueberries at the farmers’ market.'
"Then after a while you’re like, ‘Oh, man, we had quite a year' ...
"If anybody doesn’t know, we lost our home in the fires in Malibu top of the year. It’s okay, it happened, thank you. Two weeks later, got the best blessing and our daughter was born.
"Six weeks later, on the road to do this movie that is coming out this month, I Can Only Imagine 2. Literally on the road ...
"While you’re on the road you’re like: 'Where’s my blender?’ It’s dawn. You’re not making organic foods anymore."
Milo recently confirmed the couple are expecting baby number two and he joked about his apprehension when host Kimmel asked him about the pregnancy news.
He said: "You saw me hard swallow, right? I hard swallowed,. Now I know it’s coming. But at a certain point, don’t they start to entertain each other?"
During the interview, he added of his firstborn: "Got a beautiful daughter, she’s wonderful. What day is it? ... Thursday, wonderful. It’s the same as Wednesday or Tuesday, yeah. They’re all the same. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday ...
"She’s actually doing great, she’s sleeping through the night. She loves to wake up at 5.40 in the morning and talk to herself. Kinda jabber on and whatnot.
"My wife and I are laying in bed, like: 'Does she have her [pacifer]?' 'I don’t know, I can’t tell from the monitor.' 'Did she poop herself?' 'I don’t know, I can’t tell from the monitor'.
"And then you’re kind of like, after a certain period of time, you know this. You walk in there, you’re like, well, she didn’t poop herself, and she’s got her [pacifier], so the world’s good."
When they welcomed their little girl last year, Jarah posted a photo of the tot's feet along with her dog's paw on Instagram and explained the situation involving their home.
She wrote: "Houseless, never homeless. Welcome back Ke’ala Coral Ventimiglia [rainbow emoji] 1.23.25 .
"Jan 7th my family + I evacuated from the Palisades Fire. We lost our home that we were living in everything we own, as well as our home under construction that we were about to move into. I was 38 weeks pregnant + I had done an evacuation only a few weeks prior during the Franklin Fire as well.
"I take it as a gift that I was able to essentially do a practice run for what was inevitably to come. I’m also forever grateful that we were able to evacuate from the Palisades Fire in the daytime, when we could feel more prepared + not caught completely off guard in the middle of the night, for example.
"My family + I are together, happy, healthy _ safe, which is truly all that matters.
"We are deeply grateful to all of the heroes who help battle fires, as well as care for everyone affected by the aftermath for years to come.
"This will be an extended process of rebuilding and grieving for many, but we are feeling optimistic + inspired to welcome all of the exciting newness of our fresh start!"
