Kate Ferdinand felt "really alone and quite isolated" on Mother's Day last year because her husband Rio Ferdinand and her step-children have lost their mums.
Kate Ferdinand felt 'really alone and quite isolated' on Mother's Day last year, because her husband Rio Ferdinand and his kids have lost their mums
The 30-year-old star is a step-mum to her retired footballer husband Rio's three kids, Tate, 13, Lorenz, 15, and Tia, 10, who he shared with his late wife Rebecca Ellison, who died in 2015 from breast cancer aged 34.
Former England star Rio also lost his mother, Janice, to cancer in 2017 when she passed away aged 58, and Kate admitted that while it was her first ever Mother's Day as a mum last year, she didn't feel it would be right to celebrate the day.
Kate - who has 15-month-old son Cree with Rio - said: "Mother's Day for most people is usually a day that we celebrate the women that shaped us, but unfortunately that is just not the case for everyone. For me personally, Mother's Day is a day that I struggle with.
"I'm fortunate to have three amazing step-children and my biological son Cree, but sadly my step-children lost their mum at a young age and also my husband has lost his mum.
"I really, really struggled with Mother's Day even before I was a biological parent, somehow I thought it would be easier when I had Cree but actually last year was probably the toughest Mother's Day to date.
"It's a strange feeling the world is celebrating this day and there is a real big loss in my house but also it was my first Mother's Day - a day in another life that I would really look forward to, but here I am surrounded by my family.
"How can I have the audacity to celebrate myself when all my family have had such a deep loss. I felt really alone and quite isolated, I didn't know anyone in a similar situation or going through the same sort of thing as me."
Kate, who has therapy "as and when", has learnt she is "very resilient" since becoming a step-mum to Rio's three kids, but she still suffers from mum guilt.
Speaking on 'Loose Women', she added: "I've learned that I am very resilient and that to have a big heart can get you quite far in life.
"I've always put pressure on myself - 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."
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