It all started with a bar in Leeds. The perfect setting for any great love story, this is where Olympic gold-medalist Nicola Adams met her girlfriend Ella Baig for the first time. Baig had just been to a wedding, and Adams was celebrating a birthday. When they saw each other, Baig had no idea who Adams was. “It was awesome,” the boxer tells The Independent. “I knew Ella liked me for me and not because of who I was.”
Four years after that fateful meeting, and the couple are now expecting a baby together. “I’m truly excited,” Adams says of the pregnancy journey. “Our baby is due to arrive in summer this year.” The former British professional boxer and her girlfriend first shared news of their pregnancy in April. “I was a bit nervous,” Adams tells me of the first conversation about having a baby with Baig. “I guess I just thought my life was going to change forever.”
The professional athlete, who retired with an undefeated record and became the first female boxer to become an Olympic champion after winning gold in London 2012, thought that having a baby would take away the “freedom” she had in life. “But speaking to my friends that already have kids, it’s fine,” she told me. “It’s something that you get used to and you just adapt.” However, this journey hasn’t come without fears.
For Adams, who is having a baby boy, she expects that one of the “scariest and hardest” parts about having a child will be to hold back when her son does something wrong. “Having to stand back and watch him fail so that he can pull himself back from that failure is going to be tough,” she says. She explains that she’ll find not stepping in so that her child can learn will be tough. At the same time, Adams and her partner hope that their child is able to “be everything that he wants to be”. The boxer in particular wants her kid to experience the things that she never got to experience when she was young.
When asked about what kind of a person she wants her child to grow into, Adams said: “Understanding, really open-minded, confident, fun, kind, and happy.” The couple, who won’t decide on a name until they see their baby’s face, has also been working with Tommee Tippee on its #TheTruthIs campaign, which empowers parents to share their parenting highs and lows without judgement and foster a more compassionate, confident community. “I wish I knew more about what was to come,” Adams admitted, as Baig added: “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
One top tip that Adams received that has stuck by her so far is to not “put too much pressure on yourself to be the perfect parent, and that you’ll just learn as you go.”
The boxer also revealed that all of her friends and family have been “really supportive” throughout the pregnancy journey as she and Baig plan on starting their new family in Leeds, before eventually moving to London when their child grows up. “I feel as ready about this as I can be,” Adams says, adding: “I’ve pretty much bought everything possible.” She does admit that she’s still “nervous” as she has no clue about what’s in store or if she might have forgotten to do something or buy something that’s necessary, “but I guess these are things that I’ll find out as soon as he’s born”.
