Ashley Tisdale is in the throes of parenting right now. Ashley and her husband, Christopher French, have two young daughters, Jupiter Iris, three-and-a-half, and Emerson Clover, four months. I have two boys that are almost the same age difference, so I know just what she’s going through right now. At almost four, Jupiter is in her preschool era. You know, the one where kids are saying the darndest things as they’re starting to come into their own. During an appearance on a recent episode of the Breaking Beauty Podcast, Ashley told a cute story about Jupiter watching High School Musical for the first time. (Ashley starred in the High School Musical movies with Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens from 2006-2008.) It was around a year ago, so Jupiter would have been almost three when this story takes place. According to Ashley, when her daughter saw Efron on screen, she mistook him for her dad!
Tisdale, 39, appeared on the Jan. 15 episode of the Breaking Beauty Podcast and one of the hosts asked her if her 3-year-old daughter Jupiter has watched any of her mom’s projects yet.
“She has seen High School Musical,” Tisdale revealed. “I think about a year ago, maybe my husband showed her it,” she added of Christopher French, whom she wed in 2014. “I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ ” the actress remembered.
But Jupiter didn’t exactly understand what she was watching. “She thought Zac Efron was her dad,” Tisdale said. “I was like, ‘No, that’s not Daddy,’ ” Tisdale recalled with a laugh. “Just cause they have dark hair, it’s not Daddy.”
Tisdale said that she doesn’t think Jupiter “realizes” yet what her mom’s job is, but, she noted, “She did start to get to the age where she’s questioning why people take pictures with me. And I truly did not know how to answer that.”
“I just said, ‘I don’t know,’ and my husband goes, ‘That’s what you said?’ ” the Frenshe founder said. “So I think she actually thinks you just take pictures with people.”
Tisdale and French welcomed their second child, daughter Emerson Clover, in September. “I definitely love it,” Tisdale told PEOPLE in December about being a girl mom.
“Obviously it’s my favorite thing, and it’s changed my life in so many ways,” The Suite Life of Zack & Cody star said. “I think it’s been the best time, and I’m so grateful.”
Of Jupiter, Tisdale said, “She is for sure loving being a big sis. I was the baby sister, so I never got to be the big sister. So I’m so glad that the girls have each other.”
Awww, that’s a really cute story. Poor Jupiter must have been so confused! Imagine how confused she would have potentially been if she’d then met Zac in person after watching HSM. That really is such an adorable age. I loved watching my kids become more self-aware as their world slowly expanded. I don’t really have any stories about my kids thinking someone else was their dad, but when my older son was 18 months old, my husband shaved his face for No Shave November and when my son saw his clean shaven face, he cried because he didn’t recognize him.
Also, I can’t believe that High School Musical came out a full 19 years ago. That is wild. I remember seeing advertisements for it while I was at the mall during my senior year of college. Ugh.
Here’s Ashley appearance on the Breaking Beauty pod:
Photos are from 2006 (Disney Background, credit: Jody Cortes/Wenn/Avalon, Billboard Music Awards Background, credit: Nikki Nelson/Wenn), 2007 (HS Musical 2 background, credit: Kiera Fyles/Avalon and John Harvard/Avalon) and 2008 (press conference, Look Press Agency/Avalon). Other photos via Instagram.
