Kate Ferdinand reveals she “sobbed her heart out” after Rio didn’t buy her a Mother’s Day card
Kate Ferdinand has revealed she sobbed her heart out in the bedroom after not getting a card on the first Mother’s Day when she lived with her now-husband Rio and three stepchildren from the footballer’s first marriage.
Rio had three children, Lorenz, 16, Tate, 14, and Tia, 11, with his first wife Rebecca Ellison who died of breast cancer in 2015, aged 34, before he began dating Kate in 2017.
Rio and Kate’s relationship quickly turned serious and she moved into the family home and treated the kids like her own — so she was devastated that she was forgotten for a Mother’s Day card.
Speaking of her Blended podcast, the former Towie star, 31, who now shares son Cree two with Rio, and is pregnant with their second child, said: ‘I wasn’t a biological mother. I think it was our first Mother’s Day – maybe I’ve lived here for half a year, something like that.
And even though I wasn’t a biological mother, I felt like I had taken on the role of mother. For me, from living alone at home to taking the kids to school, cooking dinner, I felt like a mother.”
Opening: Kate Ferdinand has revealed she sobbed her heart out in the bedroom after not getting a card on the first Mother’s Day when she lived with her now-husband Rio and three stepchildren from the footballer’s first marriage
Family: The TOWIE star – who is pregnant with her second child , shares son Cree, two, with her footballer husband and is stepmother to his three children Lorenz, 16, Tate, 14, and Tia, 11
Speaking to Rio – who had also lost his own mother Janice in 2017 – she continued: “I really thought I might get a card from you, and I didn’t get a card from you.
“I felt bad saying that in front of you, because you lost your mother and the children lost their mother. So I just went to my room and sobbed my heart out – seriously.
“And then I felt selfish for wanting a card — how dare I want a card? So anyone who’s kind of new to this situation might feel this way because it’s weird, “I wasn’t a biological parent, so how could I expect that?” But I felt like a mother.’
Kate also shared how for the first few years after Rebecca’s death, the family went to the cemetery to remember Rebecca on Mother’s Day and other important anniversaries.
She added: “I think we’ve reached the Mother’s Day stage now, where it’s been maybe five or six years, where we’re a little bit more used to doing occasions together. We all know how everyone feels and what to expect from the day.’
Upset: After Rio and Kate’s relationship got serious, she moved into the family home and treated the kids like her own — so she was devastated that she was forgotten for a Mother’s Day card
Face to face: Kate spoke directly to husband Rio on Friday on the latest edition of her Blended podcast
But Rio, 44, didn’t even remember Kate not getting a card that first year and admitted he made a mistake when she brought up the incident.
He said, “I wasn’t aware of the part you’re playing, and how invested you are, to — not to reward you — but to go” let’s acknowledge Kate for her role that she somehow plays, shape or form, whether that’s a card or a cake or whatever it is.
“I got caught up thinking of the kids about this terrible day for them – ‘It’s not going to be a good day and how am I going to get through it? I have to go to the cemetery.’
“And then the person who puts all the graft in there, who helps it all run as smoothly as possible, you don’t acknowledge it. And you look at it now and think ‘What the f*** was I thinking?’ Mistakes are made.’
Speaking of the emotions of remembering Rebecca on Mother’s Day, Rio added, “Last year we said to the kids, ‘Do you want to go to the cemetery?’ because I don’t think you should really lock things up and say “this is what we do every Mother’s Day.”
Proud mother: Kate with son Cree, her first biological child with husband Rio
She is expecting: Kate will welcome her second child to football expert Rio later this year
“It’s a pressure that the kids and you don’t need. The way you want to do things can change.
“We asked the kids this year and it was a mixed bag what we got back. A few said yes and I think one or two of them said, ‘No, I don’t really mind going there that day, I can go any day, I don’t have to that day.’
Kate said the family now sometimes chooses to go the day before on important dates so that the anniversary date becomes less emotional.
She said, “We started a while ago to go to the cemetery the day before. That was another conversation that really helped everyone on Mother’s Day because then we go to the cemetery and whatever comes from there comes from there, and then the next day doesn’t feel as intense for them or for all of us.
“We’ve talked about communication so much, and it’s so funny because every time your family hears you say this, they’re like, ‘This is a changed man, he never communicated.'”
She added, “If we just assume that ‘right, the kids want to go to the cemetery every Mother’s Day,’ we could be hurting them because, really, they might not want to go for a year and that’s fine.” We try to explain to them, “Don’t worry about what everyone else thinks, you have to do what’s right for you.”
“That’s what I told you at Christmas: you didn’t really want to go to your mother’s cemetery. You said it was just a little too emotional – we normally go on Christmas Eve. I just told you “please tell the kids.”
“Because when they feel that way, they don’t feel bad and they understand how you feel. If they want to see your mother, I’ll take them, and if they don’t, they won’t.’
Watch it: Kate promoted her latest Blended mini-episode on Instagram on Friday
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