Kate Ferdinand has opened up about the delicate balance she maintains between keeping her four children’s identities protects while also sharing details about her incredible blended family.
The 30-year-old former Towie star married football legend Rio Ferdinand, 43, in a lavish ceremony in 2019 and welcomed a son named Cree together during lockdown in December 2020.
Kate is also step mum to Rio’s three children from his first marriage to Rebecca Ellison, who tragically died in 2015 following a battle against cancer and was aged just 34.
Kate has a new podcast called Blended which shines a spotlight on her own family life with Rio, Cree and step-sons Lorenz, 15, Tate, 13, and 11-year-old stepdaughter Tia.
Speaking to OK! Magazine to promote the new podcast – which will also explore other topics including grief, divorce, life after loss, fostering, adoption to interracial families – Kate explained that she strives to keep a degree of privacy to her children’s lives.
Explaining she gets the kids’ permission before sharing details about them, Kate said: “I was a bit nervous at the beginning, I’ve got to admit.
“We already don’t show the faces of the three big kids because they’ve been through so much. Rio and their mum believed that it was important to let them grow up without the world watching, and I think that’s also important for Cree.
“But because our kids are still kept private and out of the limelight – I always ask them first if I plan on referencing them – I’m OK now. There is power in sharing our stories.”
During her chat she also opened up about how close the whole family are following the arrival of one-year-old Cree at the end of 2020.
She explained: “Tia is like Cree’s second mum. She’s always around the house to entertain him. And he loves football.
“The boys are always playing footie with him in the house so he’s kicking a ball constantly. He is the boss and thinks he is a teenager and isn’t even two.”
Kate also cast her mind back to her stunning wedding which saw friends and family watch her and Rio swap vows at a ceremony in Turkey in September 2019.
Kate was sure to include all her young family members int he ceremony – with Tia acting as maid of honour, while Lorenz and Tate walked her down the aisle.
She explained how she has taken to parenting like a duck to water and loves that all the children call her ‘Mummy Kate’ and how she spends evenings talking about their respective days together.
And she went on to explain how she loves the life she has after growing up as an only child with a single parent.
She added: “I’m just so grateful that I’ve got a lovely big family I wouldn’t have unless I was in this situation. The biggest high is love. I’m so lucky.”
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