Mark Billingham, the former bodyguard to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, told a British newspaper that he was like a father to their children while he served as their head of security.
In the interest of protecting the children from possible kidnappers, Billingham said that he was with the couple’s six children all the time and was trusted like a member of the family. “I took them swimming, I fathered them, basically,” Billingham told The Sun.
Billingham is a 27-year veteran of the Special Air Service. He worked for Jolie and Pitt as head of security for 18 months.
“It was clear from the start we had a great chemistry and they trusted me with the kids,” Billingham told The Sun. “We got very close, I was living with them all the time. I could take the kids anywhere I wanted to on my own. No one else was allowed to do that.”
The bodyguard eventually had to leave his position when it became too demanding and interfered with his own family life, he told The Sun.
“In 17 months, I was only home for six weeks,” Billingham said. “It was just too full-on.”
He said he still does occasional security for the couple when they travel, but not full time.
“I never had a private life. I was exhausted,” Billingham told The Sun. Eventually, he needed to step away to father his own six kids and re-establish some normalcy in his life.
Billingham’s latest adventure is hosting the British TV show “SAS: Who Dares Win,” in which civilians receive military training and compete against each other.