Kate Ferdinand Reveals How Husband Rio’s Kids Reacted When She Called Herself Their Mother — 8 Years After Their Birth Mother Rebecca Ellison Died From Cancer
Kate Ferdinand has spoken out about how her stepchildren told her “not to worry” after she mistakenly referred to herself as Mum instead of Kate.
The former TOWIE star, 31, became stepmother to husband Rio’s children Lorenz, 16, Tate, 14, and Tia, 12, after they got married in 2019.
The children tragically lost their mother Rebecca Ellison after her battle with breast cancer in 2015, aged just 34.
Speak on the Happy place podcast Kate, who also shares biological son Cree, twenty-four months, and is expecting a second baby with her husband, 44, said: “Sometimes I’m ‘mummy Kate.’
“But recently I found myself going ‘come here to mommy’, and . . [Rio’s daughter] Tia is there and I say ‘oh sorry’.
Mother: Kate Ferdinand has opened up about how her stepchildren told her ‘not to worry’ after she mistakenly called herself mother instead of Kate
Family: The former TOWIE star, 31, became stepmother to husband Rio Ferdnand’s children Lorenz, 16, Tate, 14, and Tia, 12, after they got married in 2019
RIP: The kids tragically lost their mother Rebecca Ellison to cancer in 2015, aged just 34 (Rebecca and Rio pictured together in 2009)
Before adding, “Tia said, ‘Kate, it’s okay, I’m fine with you saying mommy.’ You don’t have to say Mama Kate. It doesn’t bother me’.
It comes after Kate reveals she battled with strong emotions while bonding with her stepchildren, claiming she felt like she was “walking in the footsteps of someone else’s life” as her relationship with former footballer Rio blossomed.
In her new book How To Build A Family, extracted by The sunshe wrote, “If I could get Rebecca back I would in a heartbeat because of the pain I’ve seen in them.”
“A child losing its parent is terrible.
“You want to scoop them up and bring their mom back to make them happy, but you can’t.
“As a stepparent moving into a bereaved home, you can sometimes find yourself in situations where you feel like you’re walking into someone else’s life.”
She went on to say how she felt she was grieving Rebecca herself, even though she had never met her, with other stepparents experiencing the same thing.
Television personality Kate admitted that she felt guilty about the emotions she felt “because it wasn’t about me.”
Trouble: It comes after Kate reveals she battled with strong emotions while bonding with her stepchildren, claiming she felt like she was ‘walking in someone else’s life’ footsteps as her relationship with former footballer Rio blossomed
And she came to realize that she bonded with Rebecca because they were both mothers to the children, and realized what it must have felt like for Rebecca to leave her children behind when she wanted to do the best for them.
It comes after Kate said she feels “secure” in her bond with her husband Rio’s children, as she spoke candidly about life as a stepmother.
It wasn’t all plain sailing, with Kate previously admitting that she secretly cried while learning to be a stepmother.
She said The sun: ‘ It takes a while to get to know people after so much trauma and everything that happened.
“Growing old isn’t made up of big, compelling moments. It’s a lot of little things you do all the time. And it takes time to build that bond and relationship. But now I feel safe.’
Kate added: ‘I love them all exactly the same, but the love is formed in different ways. It’s hard to explain, but because I’ve worked so hard for their love, it’s an extra special love.’