Denise Richards is opening up about what it's like raising her daughter Eloise, who was born with a rare disorder.
"My mom has always said, 'Children that are special needs are angels from God,'" Richards told ABC News' Stephanie Ramos in an interview airing on "Impact x Nightline: Denise Richards: Wilder Than Ever." "She is just the best little young girl ever."
The "Wild Things" actress -- also mom to daughters Sami, 21, and Lola, 19, whom she shares with ex-husband Charlie Sheen -- adopted Eloise in 2011.
Eloise, now 13, was born with chromosome 8, monosomy 8p, a rare chromosomal disorder in which part of the eighth chromosome is deleted, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, a nonprofit organization.
According to Richards, the disorder has caused speech delays for Eloise, who can currently only speak around 10 words.
"She's not hard of hearing and she's not autistic," Richards said, adding, "There's so many things that go with it, but then there's so many things where she's so aware and seems more mature for her age."
Describing the role Eloise plays in their family, Richards added, "Eloise is the bright light."
Eloise is featured along with Richards and her two older daughters, as well as Richards' husband Aaron Phypers, in the new Bravo reality series "Denise Richards and Her Wild Things."
The new show is described as a "docuseries," which will follow Richards and her "unpredictable family life in Los Angeles."
When it came to making a return to reality TV, Richards told Ramos that while Sami and Eloise were on board, Lola had some apprehension going into it.
"She was the one that was, um, a little hesitant at first," Richards said. "She really is very involved in her faith. She said that she prayed and felt that this was something that would be right for her to do. She really wanted to have Jesus and God very, very much a part of her life."
Denise Richards treats an enlarged thyroid after fans noticed it on TVWith the docuseries, Richards said the thing that she wants audiences to take away from it is the message about family.
"We are our family and we have a very blended family," she said. "I do think that a lot of parents will relate to some of the things that I do deal with, with siblings that are, you know, have a lot of sibling rivalry. At the end of the day, we're still a family."
Among the family dynamics documented in the new series is Richards' and Sami's involvement with OnlyFans.
Richards said she joined Only Fans as a show of "support" after her eldest daughter joined the site and faced criticism online.
"I had wished that she perhaps didn't join, but then when I saw how much backlash she was getting, I actually posted something about it," Richards said. "And then I made a, you know, off-handed comment like, well, maybe I'll just join it. And then I really thought about. And I said, 'I will.'"
Richards added, "I do think it's so wonderful that my daughter can be secure enough and just be herself and not worry about the judgment."
Richards has co-parented Sami and Lola with Sheen, whom she married in 2002 and divorced in 2006. Their divorce made news headlines everywhere, making Richards' life a hot topic on many popular talk shows at the time.
The actress opened up about Sheen's involvement in their daughters' lives and said that she "did [her] best to protect the girls from all of that."
Denise Richards defends daughter's decision to join OnlyFans at 18"He and I obviously have had a very, very up and down journey together," she said, adding that as her daughters have gotten older, "They've learned some things."
"And at first, they were asking me why I didn't tell them," she said. "I didn't talk bad about their dad. I wanted everything as peaceful and as harmonious as possible. People will see him on the show. He does, uh, he does make an appearance [on the Bravo show], he and I are today in a good place."
New episodes of "Denise Richards and Her Wild Things" air Tuesdays on Bravo.
Watch the full episode of "Impact x Nightline: Denise Richards: Wilder Than Ever" on Hulu.
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