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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Victoria Johns

Reese Witherspoon's daughter Ava Phillippe says 'gender is whatever' in sexuality talk

Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe's daughter Ava has spoken out about her sexuality.

The 22-year-old was responding to one of her fans, who asked her on Instagram : "Do you like boys or girls?"

The aspiring model, who is Reese's eldest child, replied: "I'm attracted to… people! (Gender is whatever)."

Ava is the image of her superstar mum and currently attends the University of California, Berkeley.

The student was dating Owen Mahoney, who she met at college and shared pics of the pair together last summer.

However it's not clear if they're in a relationship now.

Legally Blonde star Reese, who is also mum to 18-year-old Deacon and nine-year-old Tennessee, previously admitted she 'didn't understand what homosexuality was' until she moved to Los Angeles.

Ava says she's 'attracted to people' (avaphillippe/Instagram)
She's the spitting image of her mum (FilmMagic)

The actress, who grew up in Nashville spoke about sexuality with Legally Blonde 2 star Regina King as part of Variety's Actors on Actors series.

Referring to the moment her character Elena in TV series Little Fires Everywhere discusses homosexuality on the show, Reese revealed: "No one spoke to me about sexuality when I was a teenager.

"I didn't understand what homosexuality was. My grandparents didn't explain it, my parents didn't explain it. I had to learn from somebody I met on an audition in Los Angeles."

Reese didn't grow up famous like Ava (AFP/Getty Images)
Ava's an aspiring model (avaphillippe/Instagram)

Unlike Reese, Ava, Deacon and Tennessee have been in the spotlight since the moment they were born.

Speaking to InStyle, the actress admitted: "It's an odd situation because I didn't grow up famous. So [Ava is] living an experience that I did not have, and so are my sons.

"We are lucky enough to have friends who grew up in Hollywood and can help give them advice on how to navigate.

"Ava is so down-to-earth. She wants to do great things in the world. She's studying and learning and trying to find herself. It's a big thing in life to try different things and figure out what is really your path."

As well as gushing about her pride for her daughter, Reese also admitted she "loves" getting mistaken for the 22-year-old, because it 'makes her feel so young'.

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