Inside Josh Duhamel and Fergie's Strong Co-Parenting Relationship

Why Josh Duhamel Has “No Regrets" Over Past Marriage to Fergie

Josh Duhamel and Fergie don't do the whole blended-holidays-and-vacations thing with their now-12-year-old son, Axl Jack Duhamel.

But they do meet each other halfway, and co-parenting as they know it continues to work for the friendly exes, who separated in 2017 and divorced two years later.

Calling Fergie (born Stacy Ann Ferguson) "an amazing mom," Duhamel told Us Weekly in September, “We all have to work together to make sure that this thing works."

The "we" in this equation also includes the Ransom Canyon actor's wife, Audra Mari. Married since 2022, he and the onetime pageant queen share son Shepherd Lawrence Duhamel, 2. And Duhamel has given his ex credit for making Mari feel welcome.

"She's taken Audra in," he said on The Jess Cagle Show in 2023 after he and Mari announced they were expecting their first baby together. "And it could be much worse. That's the thing is you never know how these things are gonna go."

Considering all the drama that befell Duhamel and Fergie before they split up, it was indeed unclear how it would all turn out.

"We're great friends, we love each other so much," the Black Eyed Peas alum told People in September 2017, explaining why she and Duhamel waited months to confirm they had separated earlier that year, "and it just got to the point where it was getting a little weird. There's no perfect time, so we just decided to do it."

And for Axl, she added, "We just wanted to get adjusted in private."

Fergie said on The Talk a month later that "everything basically is staying the same, except we’re not a romantic couple anymore. I love Josh. We’re making it work."

And while the Grammy winner was "as good as you can be with a separation," the main thing, she added, "is we don’t lose each other as parents."

Fergie, meanwhile, remains rooted in her native Los Angeles, so while that means they have to cover more miles sharing custody of their son, she and Duhamel go all out to make the most of their respective time with him.

"I am so proud to see how independent you’re becoming and what a kind human you are," the singer captioned an Instagram post for Axl's 12th birthday Aug. 29. "Discovering everything you’re into and watching you grow brings such joy… I feel so lucky to be your mom."

Duhamel took Axl and a couple of the tween's friends to Legoland in California for the occasion, posting afterward, "Thank you for making these the best 12 years of my life, kid. I love you."

After he and Fergie broke up, Duhamel was candid about wanting to have more children—and wanting to meet someone who could make that dream a reality.

But, "It's not as if I am out there trying to just f--k anything," he explained on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast in 2018. "I want to find a girl that I can be with and have a family with. Because Fergie and I have a great relationship. I love that girl and I always will. Unfortunately, we didn't work, but I will always have her back and she is the mother of my baby."

He said recently that all remains peaceful between them, reiterating on The Skinny Confidential that Fergie's "a great mom," as well as "very kind, very non-confrontational—thank God—so we have a good relationship. She and Audra have a great relationship.”

And so long as Axl is thriving, mission accomplished. As Duhamel and Fergie jointly stated when they broke up, "We are and will always be united in our support of each other and our family."

See Fergie and Duhamel's sweetest photos with son Axl: