Hollywood Star Mom, Katherine Heigl Explains Why She Had To “Completely Take Devices Away” From Her Children

It is safe to say most people’s screen time has skyrocketed amid the pandemic. But none of those people have recently been living in Katherine Heigl‘s home.

The Firefly Lane star was a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show on Tuesday, Feb. 9, where the host asked what her personality is like in her home life. Katherine replied, “I’m actually more of a drill sergeant.”This led Drew Barrymore to ask, “Am I getting this correct? You don’t allow technology for your kids, is this right?” The 42-year-old mom-of-three then shared that previously it had been true, but that she had changed her tune this very week.

Katherine and husband, Josh Kelley are parents to 12-year-old Naleigh, 8-year-old Adalaide and 4-year-old Joshua.

“Until yesterday—I caved,” the actress clarified about now allowing technology.

“But I only caved because Apple now has that feature, the Screen Time feature, and my girlfriend was recently visiting, and she taught me how to use it. So I have ultimate control over the devices, and I feel like, OK, I can safely do this now. They can be safe on there, and I can be sure they’re safe, so they have access to, like, books.”

While Katherine enjoyed a chuckle, Drew looked horrified that her guest has had to make it through the pandemic with three kids who haven’t been able to busy themselves with Wi-Fi.

As it turns out, the strict ban on devices was a result of her daughters pushing their luck.

“We started out allowing them to play that Roblox game,” the Grey’s Anatomy alum explained about the immersive multiplayer game.

“They would be in their rooms playing this game together, the two girls, for like six to seven hours. We were pretty lax about it. And then I realized that was wrong and not healthy. So I tried to scale it back, and then it was just this addiction for them, so I kinda had to completely take devices away.”

Katherine then realized that one of her daughters was finding ways to spend time online and “doing TikTok videos” despite not even owning a device, and so the family decided to land upon their current compromise.

Let’s hope the kids can find a way to hang onto those privileges, since the pandemic doesn’t seem to be going away anytime too soon.