In this episode of Co‑Parenting Unlocked, host Karamo sits with his son’s mother, Stephanie, to unpack the challenges that arise when a new romantic partner disapproves of the other parent. The conversation opens with a tense incident where Stephanie’s ex‑partner confronted Karamo, prompting Karamo to explain why he kept the episode from Stephanie—to avoid adding drama that would spill over to their children. Throughout the dialogue they share personal anecdotes about past partners’ insecurities, the impact of jealousy on co‑parenting, and the importance of setting clear boundaries. Both emphasize that the children’s well‑being must trump any partner’s feelings, urging parents to communicate openly, establish what the relationship with the ex‑co‑parent looks like, and address the partner’s concerns directly. They also discuss how to recognize when a partner’s negativity is a red flag, the role of honest family discussions, and practical advice for listeners facing similar situations, such as clarifying expectations, maintaining consistent parenting priorities, and deciding whether a relationship is worth ending if it harms the children. The episode concludes with a call for audience input on whether a partner who dislikes the co‑parent should be dumped, reinforcing the central message that children’s needs come first.
Chapters
Your ex came to drop him off in that white car. He came out there and he said— he told me that you had said, hey, listen, this is our friendship. This is what it's going to be. And we got to stay strong for the kids. And he was like, I don't care what she say. I see you. And like, as if like he thought that I was going to do something. Are you serious? And got up in my face like he wanted to fight me. What? Mom. This in front of my sister's house. This in front of my sister's house.
Why didn't you tell me that?
Because I wasn't about— again, me telling you that was to cause more drama in your house, which would have caused more drama in our children's house. Wow. What's up, friends? This is Co-Parenting Unlocked, and I'm here with my son's mother, Stephanie.
Hi.
Hey, boo. Now you coming into episode 3. How you feel about this?
I'm feeling real good.
Oh, not the body roll. Not the body roll.
My whole being in it.
This whole conversation is about to be what happens when you have a partner that doesn't like your co-parent.
Right.
And you had a partner that was trifling as hell that didn't like me that affected our relationship.
It did. It was a mess. So sorry. Just to get into the mess, just jump on in it.
Let me tell y'all something. She was dating this dude, and this dude was so insecure to me.
Oh my God.
I mean, I am now fully a homosexual.
Like, out.
Out. Yeah. With my son's mother. Like, there is no— you ain't got to ever worry about me coming over and me being on the couch thinking that we did something. Not once.
No, no.
Girl, we in there talking to each other. Girl, there's nothing. And this man was— so insecure. Am I lying?
No, you ain't lying. You ain't lying. To the fact of did not like us having friendship, did not want us to be hanging out, that's absolutely true. So you just painted the whole story. He was insecure. It's our friendship, Karamo. People don't know how to deal and how to handle this. Like, I get it, you know, with you being openly, openly gay, homosexual— I can say that word?
Yeah, girl, it's fine.
With you being openly homosexual and having your partners and The love between us not changing anything in the logistics, I'm sorry, except for we don't have sex no more. Like, it's hard for people to deal. You are a fine man. Like, you fine as hell. You tall, you chocolate, you got that smell. You know, you look good. Karamo has always looked beautiful, by the way. He has always been this fine.
Look, keep going. Check the baby pictures.
Check the pictures, y'all.
Put the baby pictures up. No, I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm joking.
But he was intimidated.
But see, but this is the thing. What I hate is because we was trying to figure out how to co-parent these kids together. And I used to feel like he would always get in the way. Because one of the things for me, like, you know, with my partners, I tell people, like, number one, this is the queen of the house.
Yeah, you do.
I'm like, Stephanie come in here, she get all— I mean, and I didn't really have to because you just assert a presence of, like, I'm here. And also, you're just so friendly. Everyone loves you. I've never met someone who doesn't love you. That is awesome. And so— I've always set that standard of, like, she's it. Yes, you do. You can't say nothing about her. I've never had a partner who's ever said anything to you rude.
No, never. No.
Because I would cuss their ass out.
What? Hello.
In a heartbeat. Hello. And I think that's a priority is that, like, how you set the tone with your partner when it comes to co-parenting is essential.
It is.
Because it sets sort of a precedent of you can't do nothing over here because this ain't about you.
Hello. Yes.
This ain't about you.
Hello.
And I know this situation, like, we have people on my show where, like, they've slept with their child's— you know, their ex and all that.
She told me she cheated. She told me she cheated on him before and that she was sorry.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Like you said. You said, Chris broke up with me, dad. Chris broke up with me. And I came and I told Chris myself that I slept with my baby father that time.
Didn't I?
Chris don't lie.
Oh, hold on. I gotta back up. Because earlier. Earlier, when we talked, I caught her, and then it get messy, and it's like, now you muddied it.
Yes.
But with you and I, when it's not muddy, right.
It's solid. I've always said this. Like, we've already created our mixture. Like, think. We've already put in all the flavors and the seasons that are great and wonderful. We got our pot going. It's stirring. It's steaming. It's smelling delicious. If you're going to be an ingredient that's added in that complements the flavor, great. If not, baby, you can be extracted.
Come on with the analogy. We already got this.
We already got this.
We already got your ass right on out of this pot.
Get on out of here.
But at the time when you had this man, he was— he was— He was affecting our co-parenting.
He was. He was affecting our friendship, period. Because again, we're going to start with that. We have a great co-parenting relationship because we started off as friends, and he was intimidated by that. And so what I learned at the time— I'm going to tell you this, Karamo. At the time, I really felt like when it comes to relationships and being in a relationship, I was honoring what my partner wanted, you know, more than what we have established.
Yeah.
At the time, it made sense for me to do that.
Yeah, but what we realize now as adults is that it's not about honoring what your partner wants. It's about honoring what's best for them kids.
Hello. That's where I was going with it. Yep. That's exactly right.
And that's what it is.
It's what's best for the kids.
And people need to catch that. It's not about honoring what your partner wants. It's about honoring what's best for them kids. And I think if you can't get to a place— again, everything we say about co-parenting is always going to come back to that. And that's what I try to teach on my show is it's about them kids. It is. It's about them. Take away you, take away your partner, take away your co-parent. It's about them kids.
Kids that did not ask to be here.
Did not ask. They didn't ask for y'all drama because you don't like her and he don't like me and this, whatever.
Yeah.
They don't need to know.
Be mature. The way I dealt with that ex-partner of mine that did have a problem was, I don't know if you ever knew this, but I just let him know, like, hey, what's established between Karamo and I is already— it's done. Oh, I didn't know. There's nothing you can do about it.
Oh, I did know. I'm going to tell you this. After Chris came and moved with me— Chris is our other son.
He talk too much. What are you talking about?
No, no, no, no. It wasn't Chris. Your ex came to drop him off. And that one little white car came out. He came out there and he said, He told me that you had said, hey, listen, this is our friendship. This is what it's going to be. And we got to stay strong for the kids. And he was like, I don't care what she say. I see you. And like, as if like he thought that I was going to do something.
Are you serious?
And got up in my face like he wanted to fight me. Oh, my God. This in front of my sister's house. This in front of my sister's house.
You never told me that.
Because I wasn't about— again, me telling you that was to cause more drama in your house, which would have caused more drama in our children's house. Wow.
See?
And guess who ain't had time for that? See, because I wouldn't worry about him.
See, that's a structure side of you.
He came in my face like, and you know, you know I like to fight.
I know you would have probably knocked him out if Christian wasn't right there. What?
Yes, I knew you said that.
I did. Karamo, that's crazy. I didn't never know that. That's wild. Yeah, but see, that's that part of you, that structure, that, that, that, you know, you be keeping it under wraps sometimes when it's most important.
Well, because, yeah, it was important for me to understand that, like, that's not going to benefit.
No.
There's things that our partners can do that can affect our co-parent, and we still have to make a decision to say, do I share this information?
Yeah.
Because what would that information have done for you?
What it would do? Yeah.
It would have only caused you more stress.
You ain't lying.
It would have caused this more stress.
Yeah.
He was trying to get a reaction. Yeah. That's what y'all got to realize sometimes. The people you date, they've tried to get a reaction. The people that you are supposed to be on your side, then they're going to try to get reaction out of you. But the ones that aren't on your side will try to get reaction. Yeah. And that's what you're trying to do.
Yeah.
So I'm going to ask you, Stephanie, what advice do you have for somebody who their partner doesn't like they baby daddy? What would you tell them to say?
I would tell them, one, you want to address what type of relationship do you have. Like, making someone feel comfortable about you co-parenting is a high priority. One, again, when you don't have a traditional family and you don't co-parent traditionally, meaning you are heavily involved, you know, you have a good relationship with your ex, that it's important that you make clear the boundaries with your partner. Hey, this is already established. You know, I love you, but a high priority for me is to make sure that my kid is raised in love and knows the love between his parents and his entire family. So you want to address that. And then why don't your partner like your ex? Like, what's the problem? Like, that's a deeper conversation when it comes to the co-parenting.
Because that's insecurities. There's insecurity, there's something there, they're bringing something in from their past relationship. Now, again, if your partner— if you've slept with your ex or your child's parent, then of course your ex has reasonable doubts. We're not talking about those situations. Those situations, y'all coming to Karamo's show, we're talking about that. Y'all being messy. Y'all being messy, so you know how it is. So the trust is gone. But for situations where the trust has not been broken and they still have insecurities, I think, like you said, it has to be established quickly what the boundaries of the relationship— understand what it is.
Primarily your goal as a parent is to give your kid a good life. Again, this is a choice we made and not they did. So they deserve it and we owe it to them. Then when it comes to choosing your partner, choose wise, choose well. Because a partner who is against your co-parenting or is coming in with negativity is going to affect your kid and you don't want that.
So not at all. I just remember all the people that our parents dated that would affect us.
Oh my God.
When you just said that, it gave me chills because I just think about— I think that's why we're so conscious of it. Because, you know, we know what happened when you have people come in the house that don't need to be there.
The long term. Yeah. Hello. Yep. And you know what? Something you told me a long time ago.
What?
When it came to dating, you was like— I'm going down this field. I don't remember who it was I was dating. It sounds like I be dating a lot, but I don't. But whatever. So who I was dating at the time, you were asking, do the kids like him? And it made me pause like, um, I don't know if they like— you said you should know that. You remember telling me that? You should know that if your kids do not have a positive reaction or response to the person that you're dating, he ain't the one. That's not the person for you.
Like, that's my— that's my feeling.
Straight up, straight up, you told me you were right.
That's my feeling. Because the thing, at the end of the day, them kids gonna be with you. And so if there's a person in your household that's now affecting the relationship, it doesn't mean that your kids are gonna like every person equally. You know, some people, they're gonna think it's more fun or whatever, right? But there has to be at least a bit of like, yeah, I like this person around, right? Because that like can turn into love, which can turn into a loving family.
Hello.
But if there's already an animosity there from the beginning And they already feel like I can't be around that person.
Yeah. What?
Yeah. So you know when I was dating, that's how I was like, you like this person?
Yeah.
And it don't mean that you making the decision for me, but I just need to know how you feel.
Yeah. We always had a little family discussion about that.
We did have a little family discussion, yeah.
Is he passing the vibe? Is he passing the check? We all know, yeah.
So if your partner doesn't like your co-parent, do you believe that you should dump them or it doesn't matter? Comment below. We want to know. On the next Coparenting Unlocked.
The structure part, I do lean on you sometimes for that. And I think, again, it just benefits our kids because the balance is going to go back to them. And the love and support is there between us.
I think— Well, you see, I knew that already. But it used to get on my nerves.
I did?
Because I was like, she get to get all the good time. And I get to have all the, like— you know what I mean? And so for a long time, I resented that.
Karamo, I never knew that.
I did.
Why didn't you ever tell me?
Because I wasn't going to add extra stress. I always felt like if I add extra stress to my son's mother, That's adding extra stress to my kid's life.
