Rio Ferdinand finds romance again with Towie star Kate Wright
RIO FERDINAND says his children have been ‘part of every stage’ of his blossoming relationship with former Towie star Kate Wright.
Ferdinand, whose wife died two years ago, started dating the reality TV personality earlier this year. He admits their romance would never have got off the ground if his children Lorenz, 11, Tate, nine, and six-year-old Tia had not liked Kate, 26.
The 38-year-old south Londoner said yesterday: ‘I’m in a relationship and it’s going well. My kids deserve to be happy.
‘They have to be part of that conversation [about my relationships]. There has not been any stage in this relationship they have not been part of.
‘From the introducing… I will always make sure they are part of any conversation that can affect their lives.’
This is the former Manchester United football star’s first romance since the death of his wife Rebecca Ellis, 34, from breast cancer. They had been married for six years.
Appearing on ITV’s This Morning, the sports pundit told hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby how he spoke to golfer Darren Clarke, 49, who lost his wife Heather to breast cancer 11 years ago.
‘I went and saw the widowers, they opened up about a few things,’ said Ferdinand. ‘I saw Darren Clarke, and there were so many parallels in our lives. He said, “Look, you will be happy again.”
‘To hear that from someone who had gone through the same steps as me helped me open up. That meeting made me feel there is an opportunity to be happy. I’m happy again, and in a relationship and it’s going well.’
He admitted his loss has encouraged him to be more emotional because he wants his children to know it is perfectly normal to mourn their mother.
Ferdinand explained he didn’t display his feelings while growing up, saying that as a footballer ‘if you saw any guys showing emotion that might mean they’re not good enough’.
He added: ‘Now I am not making the same mistake with my kids. The people I love know exactly how I feel about them.’
The star, whose mother Janice St Fort, 58, died from cancer in July, also told how he wishes he had said ‘I love you’ more frequently to both his wife and mum.
‘At the beginning those were the kind of things that would keep you up at night and stick around in your mind,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to make the same mistake again.
‘God forbid, if something was to happen, I want those kids to know exactly how I feel. It’s a work in progress.’
Revealing what he is trying to instil in his children, Ferdinand said: ‘I’ve told them from the beginning that it’s okay to cry. I’ve tried to stress to them — it doesn’t make you any less of a boy or a girl. I’ve realised it does release a lot of stress and emotion.
‘I was really searching for some answers, emotionally. One of my boys broke down and started crying. It’s hard for me. It’s not the way I’ve been conditioned. I’m not wired to do that naturally.’
He sought advice on how to help his children: ‘I went to a child bereavement centre and watched a group of children who had been through this similar tragedy.’
’I’m in a relationship and it’s going well. My kids deserve to be happy. There has not been any stage they have not been part of’
Author: Andrei Harmsworth
