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Robin Thicke & Paula Patton "Strong" Post-Split: I Want to See Them "Both Happy," Says Alan Thicke

Former Growing Pains star opens up about his son's break-up

By Marc Malkin Apr 15, 2014 6:34 PMTags
Robin Thicke, Paula Patton, Alan ThickeEric Charbonneau/Invision/AP Images

Just because Robin Thicke's dad Alan Thicke has a new reality series, it doesn't mean the "Blurred Lines" singer's breakup from Paula Patton will be part of the show.

"You won't see his drama," Alan told me today while promoting Unusually Thicke, which premieres tomorrow night on TVGN. "You'll see a couple of appearances, cameos by Robin checking up on me.

"Of course, I'm happy to exploit him as much as possible," he added with a laugh. "He's clearly an important part of the family and good enough to participate a little bit."

When I ask if he thinks the couple will reconcile, the former Growing Pains star said, "I hope whatever they decide to do will make them both happy. That's the key thing. You want your kids to be happy. They're strong, smart and talented people and they'll make great decisions."

Matt Barnes/TVGN

Unlike typical reality shows, cameras did not follow the Thicke family around 24/7. "It's real people in real situations that are happening in our lives but we're layering it with a sort of sitcom format," Alan said. "The dialogue is improvised but we know where we're headed."

One big storyline revolves around Thicke's wife of nine years, Tanya, wanting another child. "My wife would love that, but I don't know at this point in life…I'm not a spring chicken," Alan said.

At 67 years old, Alan is 28 years older than Tanya. Their 16-year-old son, Carter, is on the show. (Robin's mom is soap opera star Gloria Loring.)

And then there's the murder case in the family. Tanya's mom was accused of murder in her native Bolivia last year (her named has been "cleared," but she remains under house arrest, Alan said). "We didn't deal with it on the show in a way we could get laughs, but hopefully we show how you distract and compartmentalize and deal with these things," he said. "But it couldn't just be ignored on the show."