Aurora Culpo Opens Up About ‘Balancing Act’ of Co-Parenting with Ex-Husband Michael Bortone: ‘It’s Not a Competition’ (Exclusive)

Aurora Culpo isn’t afraid to speak on the highs and lows of co-parenting young kids.

Speaking to PEOPLE with her sister Sophia, 27, about their partnership with wellness brand Thorne, the Barely Filtered podcast host, 35, opened up about how she navigates single parenthood. The mom of two is conscious of what she and her ex-husband Michael “Mikey” Bortone could both do better, and she noted a recent challenge they’ve run into as co-parents to son Remi, 6, and daughter Soleil, 4.

“There’s always this unspoken tit-for-tat of who’s doing more,” Culpo shares. “We get into good grooves of cheering each other on, but sometimes we can get into a pattern of waiting for the other person to mess something up so we can be like, ‘Caught you.'”

She tells PEOPLE that this behavior is particularly unhealthy because it plays up a feeling often triggered in parenthood: guilt.

“I think it’s just such a balancing act,” Culpo continues. “You want to always be doing the best job that you can, and it’s not a competition … Sometimes if you’re not careful, you can slip into that competitive mode with the co-parent. And that’s just never helpful or productive.”

The eldest Culpo sister says that Thorne’s health supplements have helped her handle the more personal, day-to-day challenges of single motherhood, like making sure she stays focused and on top of everything at home.

“I’m a single mom, so there’s a lot of juggling that I have to do,” she tells PEOPLE. “If I don’t remember something, no one’s going to remember it for me. I just feel like the stakes are pretty high, and I need to keep my brain in tip-top condition.”

One of her favorite Thorne products — the 5-HTP capsules — help Culpo keep “my brain sharp and my body as energized as possible,” she explains. She takes the supplements before going to bed to get a boost of serotonin that promotes restful sleep. “That contributes to a healthy, happy brain,” she adds.

Culpo and Bortone split in April 2022, and she opened up to PEOPLE about single mom life a few months before their divorce was officially settled the following year.

“I just try to take it one day at a time, optimizing my health,” she said in May 2023. “The thing is, no matter what’s going on in your life — whether it’s something as big as a divorce or you’re just stressing and you don’t really know why — doing the things that are best for your health and how you function are of irreplaceable value.”