James Stewart opens up on parenting after split: 'It kills me'

He may be a major star on Home and Away but James Stewart has opened up on his most favourite role - being a dad to five-year-old daughter, Scout.

The TV star has been a co-parent with his ex-fiancée Jessica Marais since their split in 2015.

But James admits it isn’t always easy, describing it as an "emotional time" now that his daughter has started "big school".

"I can't believe Jess and I are already those parents standing at the school gate," he told TV Week. “That’s a big thing. This is the first step of Scout’s independence, and it absolutely kills me.

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"I have to put on a brave face,” he added.

Despite his despair at how fast Scout is growing up, the actor describes fatherhood as pure "joy."

James admits that he tries to be a positive influence on Scout by guiding her in the right direction and constantly telling her "You’re kind, you’re smart, you’re important."

James and Jessica fell in love as co-stars on the set of Packed to the Rafters in 2009.

They dated for four years before calling off their engagement in 2015 with their hearts going in "different directions.”

Since the split the pair have worked to set aside their differences as they prioritise their daughter in a co-parenting arrangement around their acting schedules.

Now James Stewart adorably admits that his only child was the “love of [his] life.”

“She is my world — She’s the cutest thing I have ever seen,” he gushed.

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