Vanessa Grimaldi Opens Up About Son Winston, ‘Rediscovering’ Herself in Rare Post-’Bachelor’ Interview (Exclusive)

Vanessa Grimaldi is getting candid about her two and a half year-old son, Winston — and what it’s like being a mother.

“No terrible two situation yet,” Grimaldi, 37, said at Us Weekly + Maidenform’s Reality Star Style Awards party on Tuesday, April 22, at The Highlight Room in NYC. “He’s two and a half, he’s going on three. So maybe we just completely skipped the stage.”

Grimaldi noted that she “cried all day yesterday” before traveling to New York without her son.

“It’s a very big deal, but it feels good,” she added. “This is my initiation to doing a little bit more Vanessa time away from home.”

The Bachelor Nation star welcomed son Winston in September 2022 with husband Josh Wolfe. Since then, Grimaldi has been focusing on being a mother, sharing that there’s “no other love that exists out there” that is stronger than the love between a mother and a son.

“I love my husband, so in love with him. He’s the greatest human being in the world. But the second I had my son in my arms I was like, ‘I’ve never experienced a love like this in my life,’” she shared with Us. “And even now he’s two and a half, he’s able to express himself. He’s able to engage in conversations and reason. He’s witty and he’s a very sweet boy and he gets that from his father.”

Since becoming a mom in 2022, Grimaldi went on to reveal that she’s now “in the stage” of “refining and rediscovering” who she is.

“I cut my hair. I’ve never had bangs before in my life,” she said. “I’m just learning how to be present and that was actually my word. When the new year hits, you have to take a word. Being present was always my word before I had Winston and now he’s taught me how to be more present in life. It’s such a gift.”

While motherhood has changed who she is as a person, Grimaldi noted that it also “changed” her relationship with Wolfe, who she married in 2021.

“Luckily my husband and I really worked on our relationship before having Winston. So we had such a solid foundation,” she told Us. “Of course our relationship changed after having a kid. It’s 99 percent of the time focused on the child. But we try to do cute things for each other. Just like today he sent me flowers, a card and a video. We try to do date nights whenever we have a babysitter at home and we really try to spend as much time as a family and as a couple to keep that love alive.”

Although Grimaldi is busy with her husband and son currently, she still reflects on her time on The Bachelor as a “great experience.” (Grimaldi appeared on Nick Viall’s season 21 of the ABC series. The twosome got engaged in the finale, but called it quits in August 2017.)

“I think back and … I don’t know how I did it,” she explained. “Sometimes I don’t even remember some of the memories. I kind of pushed it. But it was such a great experience and I really do believe that everything happens for a reason. It led me to today. … So I really appreciated my time.”

Grimaldi sometimes keeps up with the current Bachelor “every now and then” — however, she doesn’t want Winston watching her season one day.

“My husband hasn’t even watched it,” she shared with Us. “That’s a hard no.”