Jeff Lewis Says His Daughter Begged Him to Stop Talking About Her on the Radio After Private School Denial

Jeff Lewis is opening up about the upsetting moment he had with his 5-year-old daughter, Monroe Christine.

The former Flipping Out star recently opened up on his SiriusXM radio show Jeff Lewis Live about the moment his daughter begged him to stop talking about her on his radio show.

On his SiriusXM radio show last week, Lewis spoke about his daughter being denied admission to several private schools because of who he is, discussing the possibility of her attending a Catholic school instead.

Despite working to keep his daughter from knowing anything that's going on with him in the media, Lewis said his ex and co-parent Gage Edward, 36, was out with Monroe and decided to tell her everything after their daughter said she was afraid of nuns. (Edward did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.)

"Gage thought he should tell her that I've been talking about her on the radio and that as a result, she's not going to be admitted to certain schools and that she's going to have to go to a Catholic school with the nuns."

"So she called me crying and… she was pretty mad," he continued. "I didn't expect her to say this so young, I expected her to say this when she was a teenager, but she said if I continue to talk to me on the radio that she will not see me again until she's a grownup."

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Lewis said he was upset for hours and "hopes" the situation with Monroe will pass. He added that he was also upset with Edward, who has been "less than thrilled" about their daughter not getting into school yet because of their publicity.

"I texted Gage and I said, 'Look, I never say anything negative about Monroe to you ever and this feels decisive. I would never want to turn her against you, which is what it seems like you are doing right now. You're mad at me, please don't use her to take it out on me,' " Lewis explained.

"I don't appreciate him getting in her head about these things and I hope he realizes he's made a mistake in using her to get back at me," he added.

Last week, Lewis revealed on his show that one of his daughter's applications to a private school had been denied.

This came on the heels of a revelation that Lewis, his staff and some of his famous friends contracted COVID at a "superspreader" holiday party he hosted. Though Lewis said the date of the rejection came before this week's news coverage, he has still been facing a considerable amount of backlash recently.

"Gage and I in the last week or two have been getting along famously and coparenting nicely until all those articles [about the party] came out," Lewis said.

"This is very bad timing for us," he added on the show. "We've heard back from one school, and they got back to us right away. They said, 'We know who you are. We know who Monroe is and... we are not interested in Monroe.' That's what they said."

The reality star added during his podcast that he's staying optimistic about finding a school for Monroe and believes "all of this is happening for a reason."

"I want a good education for my daughter and I think there's a lot of options out there," he said. "I don't think it's one of these 5 schools that Gage and I have picked. If they choose not to admit her, that's fine. We're going to find the right school for her."