Cindy Crawford Opened Up About ‘Empty Nesting’ in Interview Published 10 Days Before Son Presley’s Death

Latoya GayleMon, September 21, 2026 at 10:03 AM UTC

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Rande Gerber, Cindy Crawford, Kaia Gerber and Presley Gerber arrive at The Fashion Awards 2018Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage -

Presley Gerber died at a rehab facility at the age of 27 on Sunday, Sept. 20, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner

In an interview published before his death, Presley’s mom, Cindy Crawford, reflected on parenting adult children and becoming an empty nester

Presley Gerber previously spoke about his mental health struggles and his desire to help others facing similar challenges

Cindy Crawford opened up about her children no longer living in the family home in a candid interview published just over a week before her only son, Presley Gerber, died.

The 60-year-old supermodel shared two children — son Presley and daughter Kaia — with her husband of 28 years, Rande Gerber. Presley died at the age of 27 at a rehab facility on Sunday, Sept. 20, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner records obtained by PEOPLE.

In an interview with fashion website Net-a-Porter’s PORTERmagazine,published on Sept. 10, Crawford discussed the challenges of parenting adult children and how becoming an empty nester has impacted her marriage with businessman Rande, 64.

Rande Gerber, Kaia Gerber, Presley Gerber, and Cindy CrawfordCredit: Patrick McMullan via Getty

“When they become adults, all of a sudden you’re like, okay, I’ve got to back off here. It might not be the way I would do it, but you know,” she told PORTER.

“When you get married, you talk about what kind of family you want or where we’re going to live. But no one ever talks about what this phase looks like, empty nesting, because it’s so far away you can’t even imagine it,” she continued. “But it’s an opportunity for us to redefine our relationship.”

“What do we want to do? Do we want to travel, do we not want to travel?” the Fair Game star added, referring to the questions she and Rande faced. “We haven’t answered those questions yet, but we’re asking the questions and it’s fun trying to figure that out together.”

Having credited her own mother for influencing her parenting style, Crawford also expressed her own desire for her children to have children of their own in the interview.

“One thing I really am looking forward to is being a grandmother,” she said. “I’m at the age where a lot of my friends are starting to have grandkids, and even though I don’t think either one of my kids is close, I do hope I get to experience that, because it looks really fun.”

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While Kaia first sparked dating rumors with Marvel star Lewis Pullman in Jan. 2025, Presley’s last public relationship was with Lexi Wood in 2022. He and the Summer House star went their separate ways at the end of that year.

In the following years, Presley opened up about learning how to cope with his mental health struggles.

Presley GerberCredit: Alexander Tamargo/Getty

“Having struggled with mental health, depression and some other things that come along with that, I think that whether I help one person or a hundred people get out of that place that I was in at one point in my life, that’s all I need to do,” he said on the Studio 22 podcast in February 2023.

In a since-deleted Instagram video posted in Dec. 2025, Presley revealed the multiple depression medications he was on, including Buprenorphine, Xanax and Valium, to treat his “panic attacks.”

An autopsy has not yet been completed following Presley’s death at 27, TMZ reported.

A representative for his family told PEOPLE, “The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”