Nicole Richie says she now has a “really open and honest relationship” with her father, Lionel Richie, despite having problems in the past.

Nicole became estranged from her father after her parents divorced when she was 11.

She told 20/20: “They were dealing with their own thing. But I was also looking for some sort of authority and when I realised I could make my own decisions then I kind of felt like I was an adult from there and that I could do whatever I wanted.”

Nicole used the ‘freedom’ to turn to drink and drug use during her teenage years - which caused Lionel to stop her having a relationship with his new wife Diane Alexander and their two young children: “He just really did not want my brother and sister to be around that kind of behaviour. So I was kind of cut off in that department until I got my act together.”

After going through rehab to deal with her drug abuse, Nicole and Lionel reconciled: “we have a really open and honest relationship. I’m really happy that I’m on the end of it.”