Kate Ferdinand found it ‘challenging’ moving into Rio’s house due to photos of his late wife
Kate Ferdinand has admitted that moving into her husband Rio’s home was “challenging” because it was plastered with photos of his late wife, Rebecca Ellison.
The former TOWIE star, 31, who is currently pregnant with their second child, married the footballer, 44, in 2019 and they welcomed son Cree, two.
But Rio was already a father to Lorenz, 16, Tate, 14, and Tia, 12, from his first marriage to Rebecca, who died tragically from the chest cancer 35 years old, in 2015.
Kate previously admitted that she secretly cried when she learned to be a stepmother, and now she’s discussed their blended family in more detail.
She wrote in her new book, How To Build A Family, “At first I found it really hard because I felt like I was coming into this already made family with this already made life and I was a bit of a suburb. .
How difficult! Kate Ferdinand has admitted that moving into her husband Rio’s home was “challenging” as it was plastered with photos of his late wife, Rebecca Ellison.
“It felt like I was walking through someone else’s life. As you walk into our house there is a spiral staircase and when I first moved in there was a wall full of pictures behind it.
Arranged like a family T-shirt, it spilled over from Rio and Rebecca’s grandparents all the way to the kids. You could see this beautiful family from the moment you walked in.”
It comes after the reality star recalled being mistaken for her husband Rio’s late wife Rebecca when she discussed their early relationship.
Kate admitted that she felt “like a side chick” when they first started dating in 2017.
Speaking of her Blended podcast, Kate and Rio talked about her difficulties when everyone mentioned Rebecca when the footballer talked about his wife.
She explained, “I’m sure, but what used to happen was I dated you, we might have been engaged, but I wasn’t your wife.” So when you talk about your wife, everyone says Rebecca.’
Recalling how a famous person recently called her Rebecca, Kate said she felt “like a side chick” at the beginning of their relationship.
She added, “I kind of felt like being this side woman, I felt like a damn good girl taking care of your three kids.” Everyone said your wife, your wife, your wife.
Huge loss: Rebecca tragically passed away in 2015 at the age of 35 from breast cancer
Blended family: The former TOWIE star, 31, co-parents Lorenz, 14, Tate, 12, and Tia, 10, who had Rio, 42, with Rebecca
Opening: She wrote in her new book, How To Build A Family, “At first I found it really hard because I felt like I was coming into this already made family with this already made life and I was a bit of a suburb”
“Now I’m your wife, I feel very safe and yes, the wedding has changed a lot for me, so I can deal with things like now.”
The TV personality and the footballer got married in 2019 in an extravagant wedding ceremony in Turkey, after two years of dating.
Elsewhere, Kate revealed she didn’t realize ‘what she was getting herself into’ when she was met with his late wife Rebecca’s belongings “all over the place” and his three children “rebellious.”
After spending time dating, the couple decided to take the next step and let Kate move into the family home – which was very difficult.
“I never realized what I was getting into until I got to this house. We were in love, going out, dating. I hadn’t really experienced you being a stepmom, your life or the loss you went through,” she said.
“It wasn’t until I got here that I thought “s**t this is going to be hard”.’
Rio told her, “I hadn’t changed anything in the house at that point. Nothing had changed. The fact that I took you into that. I wasn’t thinking about your feelings, maybe I was just in a bubble. I didn’t think about things in the bathroom like shower gel.’
Kate replied, “You hadn’t moved anything, we had this whirlwind romance, it was all beautiful and flowers everywhere and then I stepped into your house.”
“Nothing had been taken from Rebecca, so all her things were in the same place and I just came in.
‘It was really hard. I felt like I was having an out of body experience. My mother thought I had gone a little crazy. I started asking myself, is this really what I think it was? I just didn’t even know if I was letting myself in.”