'I cried in their rooms': Reese Witherspoon 'grieved' her children when they left home for college

Reese Witherspoon "grieved" her eldest children when they left home for college.

The 49-year-old actress was full of tears when her daughter Ava, 26, and her son Deacon, 21 - who she shares with her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe - went away to study.

Reese made the admission on the latest episode of the New York Times' The Interview podcast, and told host Lulu Garcia-Navarro: “I grieved their going to college, and I cried in their rooms.

"One year, one of them didn't come home for Christmas, and I sat in their bed and just cried."

The Morning Show star said she felt a "loss" because the kids were not around.

Reese - who is also mom to her 12-year-old son, Tennessee, whom she has with her 55-year-old ex-husband Jim Toth - explained: "It’s a loss because you do everything for them.

“You take the food out of your mouth, the coat off your back. You don't sleep.

"You don't sleep because you're either taking care of their physical needs when they're little."