Riley has been married to her husband, stuntman Ben Smith-Petersen, since 2015. The two quietly welcomed a daughter together last year.
Well, Riley is the newest cover star of Vanity Fair, and when asked why the interview was being conducted in Switzerland, Riley replied, “I have Lyme disease. I used this little break that I have to come and try and see if I can alleviate it a bit. It’s a holistic treatment center and offers all kinds of things that you can’t really do in America yet, like cleaning your blood.”
Later, when speaking about the decision to have a child via surrogate, she continued, “I think it’s a very cool, selfless, and incredible act that these women do to help other people. I can carry children, but it felt like the best choice for what I had going on physically with the autoimmune stuff.”
Riley then revealed her daughter’s name: Tupelo, aka the birthplace of Elvis. “It’s funny because we picked her name before the Elvis movie,” she explained. “I was like, ‘This is great because it’s not really a well-known word or name in relation to my family — it’s not like Memphis or something. Then when the Elvis movie came out, it was like, Tupelo this and Tupelo that. I was like, ‘Oh, no.’ But it’s fine.”
“She’s literally like someone shrunk my husband, and that’s our baby,” Riley continued. “This is the thing in my life so far that I have really wanted to, quote-unquote, get right. I don’t think you ever can be a perfect parent, but I would like to be the best mom for her that I can be.”
You can read the full interview with Riley here.
