Brooke Shields On Losing Her Virginity At 22 & How She Keeps Her Marriage Alive

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Brooke Shields Saves Robert Pattinson
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Christopher Atkins and Brooke Shields in scene from ‘The Blue Lagoon,’ 1980
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Brooke Shields in a blue hat at the 135th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky
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Brooke Shields attends ‘Take Me Back To Manhattan,’ Roundabout Theatre Company’s annual spring gala at Roseland Ballroom on April 6, 2009 in New York City

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FIRST PUBLISHED: May 25, 2009 12:27 PM EDT
LAST UPDATED: May 25, 2009 12:47 PM EDT

NEW YORK, NY --

In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, the image of a teenage Brooke Shields became iconic as she mixed innocence with sexuality for “The Blue Lagoon” and her infamous Calvin Klein jeans ads. But in a new interview with Health magazine, the actress revealed it was actually all innocence back in those days, as she held on to her virginity until her early 20s.

Brooke brought up the intimate detail when the magazine asked her what her biggest health regret was.

“Not learning to love the way I looked earlier. And I think I would have had sex a lot earlier,” she laughed. “I think I would have lost my virginity earlier than I did at 22. I had the public and all this pressure, and I wish I had just gotten it over with in the beginning when it was sort of OK. I think I would have been much more in touch with myself. I think I wouldn’t have had issues with weight — I carried this protective 20 pounds [in college]. It was all connected. And to me, that’s a health regret.”

Brooke said she is very aware of how she grew up and strives to give her own children – Rowan, 6, and Grier, 3 — more boundaries.

“I definitely see how unique my upbringing was, and how glad that they’re not being subjected to it,” she said. “But I’m also so used to drama. I was always with a single mom and we never had schedules or anything. We were just Bohemian, us against the world, which was kind of great, but it certainly didn’t breed security. I’ve gotten hyper-sensitive to schedules and bath time, and eating at the dinner table. We don’t just ‘Bohemian’ go out at nine o’clock and go get Chinese Food.”

And the actress said she also sets up time for her husband, producer Chris Henchy, fully aware that marriage takes work.

“You may think love will change everything, but it really is different with children. Children don’t necessarily bring you together, they challenge you,” she said.

“We really have to have date night,” Brooke continued of keeping her marriage strong. “The other morning, we had an hour. And instead of getting involved as we do with our emails and the calendar, I was like, ‘Please, let’s just go have coffee out on the porch.’ He got the paper, and we went and sat out, and he had his glasses. I said, ‘Look at us, Grandpa!’ It maybe lasted 45 minutes before life came back at us.”

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