Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Tina Campbell

Kate Ferdinand says she is close with Rio’s first wife’s best friend

Kate Ferdinand has revealed that she is close with husband Rio’s first wife’s best friend

(Picture: Getty Images)

Kate Ferdinand has revealed that she has formed a close friendship with her husband Rio’s first wife’s best friend.

The ex TOWIE star, 30, opened up about her friendship with Rebecca Ellison’s former best pal during the latest episode of her Blended podcast.

"Rio’s first wife’s best friend is now my best friend, it’s really amazing,” she enthused about the friendship, which she acknowledged might raise eyebrows from some.

"I’m really lucky actually. She helps guide me and I am really fortunate to have her. But there was a lot of judgement around how can you be best friend’s with Kate if you were best friends with, you know," she continued.

Kate Ferdinand is step-mum to husband Rio Ferdinand’s three children with his first wife Rebecca Ellison who died in 2015 from breast cancer (Rio Ferdinand / Instagram)

Football legend Rio was originally married to Rebecca Ellison, who died in 2015 at the age of 34 following a battle with breast cancer.

They shared children Lorenz, now 15, Tate, 13, and Tia, 10.

The TV personality married the ex-Manchester United player in 2019 and the rest is history.

As well as being a step-mum to her husband’s three children, they welcomed their son Cree 16 months ago in December 2020.

Kate Ferdinand shares one-year-old son Cree with husband Rio Ferdinand (Kate Ferdinand / Instagram)

During the episode, Ferdinand also shared how she wished she had known Ellison, saying: "For me I try my best to understand what my children are going through. But I never really will because I didn’t know their mum and I don’t know that loss.

"I always wish I knew their mum so I could tell them more stories about their mum. But there’s only a certain amount of information I know because I didn’t know her.”

In a previous episode, Ferdinand told how she sometimes wished that Ellison was still alive as she supports her step-children through their grief.

She told psychotherapist Julia Samuel: “I don’t know if I’m upset for the children or for me. I find myself wishing she was back here.

“I can see the pain the kids are in and then it kind of brings this sliding door situation where I think ‘oh well if she was here, then I wouldn’t be here’. Me and Tia actually spoke about it quite a lot, she says: ‘I want mummy back, but where would you be?’ and it just starts all these crazy thoughts.”

She added: “Just for me in general if I’m having a hard day, I feel like I have taken on their grief. I find it bizarre because I never knew their mum but sometimes you just have to get out the house and go for a walk.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.