has opened up about living in a blended family and the loneliness she felt on Mother’s Day last year.
The author – who’s step mum to ’s three children and welcomed baby Cree to the family during lockdown – said she struggled to know where to turn for advice on grief as as step parent.
Rio’s wife Rebecca Ellison died in Rio’s arms in May 2015 – just five weeks after her cancer diagnosis.
However, Kate, 30, makes sure to keep her memory alive and remind the children that their mum is ‘irreplaceable.’
She said they celebrate Rebecca’s birthday by all going to the cemetary together.
Speaking on Loose Women today about her new podcast, she said: ‘I didn’t know where to get advice from becoming a step-parent and dealing with lots of grief, so I wanted to start Blended as a community, because I feel when you share a problem it takes the pressure off.’
When asked about navigating Mother’s Day last year, her first year being a biological parent, Kate explained that while it was exciting, ‘My husband and my stepchildren have both lost their mum,’ so she was ‘trying to balance those emotions when everyone in my house has had such a big loss.’
She also revealed the children call her ‘mummy Kate.’
Panellist Linda Robson asked went on to ask how her kids are with baby Cree now.
Kate replied: ‘They love him so much and he adores them. Tia is like a second mum.’
The star also spoke about how she ‘quite enjoyed’ having a lockdown baby, and revealed that Cree – who was born in December 2020 – ‘thinks he’s a teenager.’
On step-motherhood, Kate said: ‘I was quite naive stepping into it. I thought I’d be fine. I didn’t really take into consideration the dynamics. I’ve learned that I am very resilient and that to have a big heart can get you quite far in life.’
She shared she’s learning to be less hard on herself, and has therapy ‘as and when,’ which is aiding with her combatting ‘mum guilt.’
‘I’ve always put pressure on myself, but it’s impossible to be the perfect mum, cook beautiful healthy dinners every night, go to the gym, spend time with your husband and go to work.’
Kate and Rio married in 2019 and have set up home at .
As well as Rio is a dad to two other children, Lorenz, 15, Tate, 13, and Tia, 10, from his marriage.
Wife Kate recently heaped praise on her ex-footballer husband after he received an honorary doctorate from London’s South Bank University last month, in recognition for his work on addressing inequality, racism, and the stigma around mental health through his foundation.
Loose Women airs weekdays on ITV at 12:30pm.
