Embed from Getty Images
Siblings Kate and Oliver Hudson have a podcast called Sibling Revelry, which “explores the sibling bond, family dynamics, the human mind, and so much more.” As such, they usually share both deeply personal and funny stories on it, like Oliver addressing his past infidelities or swapping sibling hijinks stories with Seth Myers and his brother. On this week’s episode, Kate and Oliver revisit something that they touched upon earlier this year. About eight years ago, they found out that they had a half-brother from their father, Bill Hudson, named Paul. Paul was born when Bill was 16 and had been adopted. Paul sought more information about his birth family at his wife’s urging, and, well surprise!
“We found out we had an adopted brother, like, eight years ago,” Kate, 45, shared on the Monday, April 22, episode of her and Oliver’s “Sibling Revelry” podcast. “And he was put up for adoption and none of us knew on our dad’s side.”
Kate and Oliver, 47, are the children of Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson. Bill, 74, who has several kids from other relationships, was not always present in their lives. Kate and Oliver often speak fondly of Goldie, 78, and her longtime partner, Kurt Russell, who they refer to as “Pa.” Goldie and Kurt, 73, who have been together since 1983, share son Wyatt Russell. (Kurt, 73, also shares son Boston, 44, with ex-wife Season Hubley.)
Kate noted that it was “wild” when their half-brother, whose name is Paul, reached out to connect with them. “One of the things Paul said was he had a great childhood and has a really full, happy life and never felt like he had to reach out and find out who his birth parents were,” the actress shared. “It was really his wife who was like, ‘I want to know what your history is. I want to know for our kids, for you.’ And so, he basically left it up to her. He’s like, ‘If you want to find this out, go ahead.’”
Though the siblings said they have yet to truly get to know Paul, Oliver revealed that he physically “looks like a Hudson.”
“He loves to fish. I’m a big fisherman,” Oliver stated, to which Kate added, “And his kids are very creative and athletic. I mean, it definitely fits into the whole Hudson vibe.”
One thing the duo isn’t sure of yet is whether Paul inherited their family’s musical abilities, though Kate joked Oliver doesn’t have much musical ability himself. “What are you talking about? I can f—king sing,” Oliver clapped back. “I don’t think you give me enough credit.”
Kate and Oliver previously opened up about learning about Paul on a February episode of their podcast. “I show up at my house and there’s a note under the door,” Oliver shared earlier this year. “And it says, ‘My name is Paul. I’d love to have a conversation with you.’ Turns out, this guy Paul who lives in Utah is my, our half-brother. My father had him when he was 16 and had to give him up for adoption.”
At the time, Oliver noted that thanks to 23andMe, he and Kate discovered that they may even have another half-sibling. “That, we’re trying to figure out,” he added, revealing that Paul slipped the note under his door while traveling to Disneyland in California. Kate said Paul thought Oliver “would be better [sibling] to give the note to. “And the irony is that Oliver was like, ‘I can’t deal with this.’”
Oliver explained that he had a friend call Paul’s number pretending to be his assistant, which Paul didn’t fall for. “The first thing [Paul] said is like, ‘Yeah, I guess your brother’s [assistant] — she said she was his assistant – but it didn’t sound very professional,’ which made me immediately realize he actually was our brother,” Kate joked.
So, yeah, while it’s wild to have another half-sibling show up out of nowhere, it’s equally just as wild for a normal person to take a DNA test and find out that his biological dad is a famous singer and his half-sister is an Oscar winner from a famous family. Like, what does a regular person even do with that information? It’s not quite clear how Paul found them, but the article does imply that Kate and Oliver also may have found another potential half-sibling because of 23andMe.
I have mixed feelings about that! I did 23andMe about 10 or 11 years ago because I thought it would be cool to find out half of my family history that I know nothing about. It was cool, and as they update it, I find it incredibly informative overall. I truly love what I’ve learned from my heritage. Regardless, I now have very mixed feelings about those DNA programs. This wasn’t on my naive radar a decade ago but I’m worried that my personal data will be sold off somewhere.
Photos credit: Courtesy of Bill Hudson / Avalon and Getty