Holly Robinson Peete Has Four Kids With Former NFL QB Rodney Peete
"I was all alone, and I finally said to him, ‘I cannot eggshell my life around you because you’re sad about the kid you got.’”
Published May 2 2025, 9:17 a.m. ET
Actor and singer Holly Robinson Peete is known for her roles on 21 Jump Street and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper. Her husband, Rodney Peete, is famous in his own right as the former quarterback of winning NFL teams.
Together, they share four children, including one set of twins.
Here's what we know about Holly's four kids and the diagnosis that almost tore their family apart.
Here's what we know about Holly Robinson Peete's kids.
Holly and Rodney share four children: twins RJ and Ryan, Robinson, and Roman.
All four of the children are adults now, and fans were able to watch them grow up a little on the family's reality series, For Peete's Sake.
The duo's oldest children are Rodney Jr. (RJ) and his twin sister Ryan, born on Oct. 19, 1997, per People. The outlet reports that when RJ was a toddler, his parents noticed that there was something different about him. He was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at the age of 3.
To help RJ's communication and social skills, Holly sought a number of therapies and treatments until she discovered a down-on-the-floor method called "floortime," which helped significantly.
While RJ was learning in a different way, Holly told People, "Between the boys and my daughter, it’s a difference of night and day!"
Those boys also include Robinson "Robbie," born Aug. 11, 2002, and Roman, born Feb. 25, 2005.
Robbie pursued a career in music in the finest tradition of his aunt, Holly's sister by marriage, Dawn Robinson, a founding member of the R&B group En Vogue. Roman, on the other hand, takes after their dad with his love of sports.
Holly and Rodney almost split after their son RJ was diagnosed with autism.
While Holly and Rodney love their children and each other, their marriage nearly reached a breaking point after RJ was diagnosed with autism.
She told Kelly Ripa in her podcast Let's Talk Off Camera that Rodney struggled to come to terms with RJ's diagnoses; "RJ’s supposed to be the Heisman Trophy winner and instead [Rodney] got the kid who comes to the locker room and runs around and twirls and flaps and stims.”
RJ Peete with his mom Holly Robinson Peete and his dad Rodney Peete
She told the television host that Rodney "could not process this," adding, "We were not on the same page. We weren’t even in the same state or country.”
Holly shared, "I was all alone, and I finally said to him, ‘I cannot eggshell my life around you because you’re sad about the kid you got.’”
She continued, “This was a big issue. I was ready to leave him. Did I want to do this on my own? No, but he was no help, and then he was in denial, and even people in his family couldn’t even say the word autism.”
Holly said, "My gangsta mom jacket is on, and I cannot [deal] with you. So I told him, ‘I’m out of here.’”
Luckily, using the "floortime" therapy turned things around. Holly shared, "He was like, 'There’s no way in the world some stranger’s going to connect with my kid but I won’t.' And that really was what turned him around, and he’s been on board ever since.”
Holly and RJ wrote a book together about their experience navigating life as mother and son with ASD in the mix, called Same but Different.
And with Rodney on board, the family has been going strong.