‘sMothered’: Cher and Dawn Hubsher Release First Book “A Bond That Lasts Forever” [Exclusive Interview]
sMothered stars Dawn Hubsher and Cher Hubsher Gopman have released a new book ” A Bond That Lasts Forever”. The book was inspired by their super close mother daughter relationship on and off the TLC show. Dawn and Cher love to dress alike and have truly been best friends since Cher came into this world. Cher is now married to Dr. Jared Gopman and just had a baby. Dawn and Cher talked to Soap Dirt about their new book and life as reality stars.
Dawn Hubsher Talks about Finding Out She was Going to Be a “Mimi”- Recalls When Daughter Cher was Born
Soap Dirt (SD): In The book ” A Bond That Lasts Forever” you talk about the things you did to finally have a girl after having two sons. It was all natural but involved very specific help from your husband on a pretty demanding schedule. So was he a good sport about all that?
Dawn Hubsher (DH): Oh yes he was a good sport. He didn’t believe any of it was going to work. He said there’s a fifty-fifty chance but I had read a book and I thought why not try it. It was all natural and I didn’t take any pills, and it did work so I do believe in the method.
SD: Dawn, you also mention in the book that when Cher was born you knew your connection with her would be different. And that she was an extension of you. Do you feel that this put any unnecessary pressure on her? Or did you feel it was just a natural thing?
DH: Oh yes it was very natural. We had the connection very early on.
CH: She always wanted a daughter. And wanted to create that special bond with me. By having girls days together or spending time with me when she could have been out to lunch with her girlfriends. That made me feel so close to her from a young age and helped us build this relationship to where it is today.
SD: Do you ever feel there is any jealousy from your sons about your connection with Cher?
DH: No not at all. I spend quality time with all of them. And I am very close to my sons, so not at all.
Dawn Is Overwhelmed on sMothered when Cher Reveals She’s Pregnant
SD: Dawn, recently on the show Cher revealed to you that she was pregnant and gave you a “Mimi” mug and her positive pregnancy stick. This created a buzz. In the book you say you saved the stick in a box under your bed. Is all this true?
DH: Well it is true that she told me she was pregnant on national television.I was just so overwhelmed and excited I didn’t even know what I was kissing to be honest. I was just so happy, I’ve wanted to be a Mimi for a long time. And yes I did save it i and it’s somewhere in the house. I’m very superstitious so I kept it for good luck.
Cher and Dawn Dish on Dance Lessons, Hair, and Learning from Each Other
SD: Dawn you admit that you wanted Cher to take dance lessons as a child and wear long hair because your mother wouldn’t let you have those things. Did you ever feel that was too much of going into your own past or projecting that on to her?
DH: Well many times you think of what you didn’t have or how you grew up and you want to better yourself. You want to do it differently. Of course i think I did it wrong by letting her have the long hair and realize now she didn’t want to have it. A lot of times you just repeat your upbringing which isn’t always right. But our communication is really great. And that’s whats really important that we can listen and hear each other and that’s how we grow and learn. I’m not perfect, nobody’s perfect You don’t always do everything right as a mother but you learn from that.
SD: So you feel you guys were able to grow together through all those phases?
DH: Exactly, It’s about growing together.
Cher Reveals An Embarrassing Moment
SD : Cher you recall in the book an embarrassing moment when your mom made you do a singing audition. Were you pretty upset when that happened?
CH: Yeah. I was very upset. I didn’t want to do it and ended up doing it for her. And it ended up being one of my most embarrassing moments. I still don’t like to sing in front of anybody. When I did it back then she didn’t realize. She thought I was great and was my biggest fan and thought why wouldn’t anyone want to hear me sing. That’s something that you have to talk to with your child. And it’s something that helped us grow as well.
DH: To me she was adorable, she did it with such emotion and feeling I said oh wow, so i didn’t really see her point and when she told me, you know you really need to listen to your child and hear them. But you can grow from it and that’s what we wanted to show in the book.
Dawn and Cher Talk About Their Bond and it’s Effect On Their Marriages
SD: In the book you stress the importance of honesty. Yet you admit that growing up you let Cher play hooky from school and kept it from her dad until the one day he busted you. Did that ever cause any trouble in your marriage? Or was he a good sport about that?
DH: He was good about that. I just wanted to have the quality time with Cher. it probably wasn’t the best idea of taking her out of school for the day, but she was young at the time and he understood that I wanted to have quality time. It’s hard to manage your time with 3 children but I do, I always did so that was our time.
SD: On sMothered, Dawn you attend a OBGYN appointment with Cher and her husband. You asked a lot of questions and Jared seemed to react and be a little annoyed with your questions. Cher, how do you deal with that in regards to your marriage?
CH: In reality we are all very close and have a very good relationship. He’s a doctor and he’s taken these courses so he knows a lot of the answers. I think sometimes he feels like my mom looks at him like a son or a child since she’s known him since he was 18 years old. He probably feels sometimes like she looks at him as a kid and not a professional. So yeah that kinds of gets to him.
DH: Both my sons are physicians and my husband’s a physician so I don’t look at them like they know everything.
CH: She still believes mom knows best.
Dawn and Cher Discuss Life On Reality TV
SD: Dawn you say you have trouble accepting criticism. Has there been any family or friends or people online who have reacted negatively or have been critical and how do you deal with that?
DH: No, you know some people are going to love us and some people are going to hate us and that’s just part of life. And I know that we’ve got a lot of good feedback. But of course not all the feedback is great. But you know we have to be true to ourselves and this is us, and if you love us wonderful. And if you don’t then you know you don’t.
CH: We have to always remember the people who know us know how we are. Our friends and family who know us aren’t here to judge us. And the people who say things behind the computer, they don’t really know us and are looking at us as characters on the show. We have to understand and appreciate that. I understand where some people come from when they write certain things. But they don’t really know us.
SD: How has this reality show experience been different? I know you were on MTV’s My Sweet Sixteen.
CH: It’s different working with a different production company. And that one ( My Sweet Sixteen) was just focused on one thing which was a birthday party. I also did another one called Exile. Which was with a tribe. This is more day-to-day. It’s been really special to do this while being pregnant. Looking back to when I was 24 weeks and I thought I was huge and it was nothing compared to now. To get to watch that back was so cool. And to get to do the show with my mom was so fun. Because in the first show she was involved but it was mostly about my birthday. Getting to have these special moments with my mom has been really fun. We have one life to live so why not fill it with memories.
sMothered Stars Cher and Dawn Admit They’ve Had Their Share Of Ups and Downs
SD: You were very honest in the book and admit you’ve had ups and downs. Cher you admit you were not a perfect child and talked about getting sent home from summer camp for drinking. Do you think going through those times made you closer?
CH: Absolutely. Everyone sees us and says oh they are so close but we are not perfect. We’ve had plenty of fights. Plenty of times we disagree. But because we are able to talk about it , it allowed us to grow and become stronger. And I think you must have those bumps in the road to get to where you are.
SD: Dawn, in the book you speak of letting go and a daughter gaining her independence. Yet you admit she texted or called you every night until one night when she didn’t. And you drove to her college in the middle of the night convinced her “creepy neighbor” had done something to her. And when you arrived she was fine. Do you feel that this was over the top? And that she really wasn’t gaining independence if you went to these extremes?
DH: No, I definitely felt that going was the right thing to do at the time. Because if something was wrong I wanted to be there to nip it in the bud immediately. You know it’s your daughter and you want to make sure she is alright. But she did have her own life out there she didn’t live with me she lived on campus on her own.
SD: Cher how did you feel sMothered at college about texting or calling every night? Did you ever consider it a burden?
CH: For us it really wasn’t a burden but something I just did naturally. You know at the end of the night when your bored you want someone to talk to, and she was always there for me. At the time when she showed up I was shocked and like what are you doing here? But I understand because we had such a routine so I understand why she did it.
Mother Daughter Duo Cher and Dawn Hope to Help Others with Book and Website
SD: What do you consider the most important thing in a mother daughter relationship? What advice would you give to others?
DH: Besides just having love you really need dedication, self-sacrifice and consistency. That really determines how the relationship you have turns out. That’s what I say.
CH: I think that communication is most important. Having that open communication and knowing that you can talk to your mom or talk to your daughter and not feel judged for it. To really be able to listen to each other and hear each other, to me that’s what’s going to allow a relationship to truly blossom. So you can grow and not just be mother and daughter but be a friend too.
SD: What made you decide to write the book?
DH: My friends would always ask me how do you have such a close relationship with your daughter? So we talked about it and decided it would be fun to give something back and help other people have close relationships.
CH: We were kind of looking for something fun to do together so we started writing it. We had always talked about it. We are so proud of it and it was amazing. Writing it was tough too because we did have to rehash the memories and there were tough times for us. It was a growing experience.
“A Bond That Lasts Forever” by Dawn and Cher Hubsher is available on Amazon in hard copy, paperback and kindle version. The pair also have a website (www.abondthatlastsforever.com) devoted to the book. They hope to interact with fans and give advice on the website.
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