“I’m constantly compared to Rio’s first wife”… Kate Ferdinand on building a blended family
Should I Delete That?
Alex Light & Em Clarkson
4.8 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 6 July 2025
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s estimated that up to 1 in 3 families in the UK are blended - and in today’s episode, Kate Ferdinand came to speak to us about what that looks like for her and her family.
Kate is a much loved TV personality who shot to fame as part of ITV’s The Only Way Is Essex. In 2019, she married professional footballer Rio Ferdinand - and took on the role of stepmum to his three young children.
Kate and Rio have since had two more children - and she has become the leading voice for blended families in the UK. On her podcast, Blended, she speaks about the challenges and joys of blended families - and navigating grief and motherhood in the public eye.
In this chat, Kate tells us about what it felt like to become a mum to three kids overnight, the criticism that people place on her and Rio and how she navigates difficult conversations about grief.
Follow @xkateferdinand on Instagram
Follow @blended on Instagram
Blended is a celebration of blended families - exploring the stories of relationships bound by love, no matter what their circumstances are. The series covers subjects such as second marriages, divorce, grief and life after loss, adoption, fostering and really changes perception on the old age trope of stepmothers being wicked! You can listen to Blended on all podcast platforms!
You can watch Blended on YouTube here!
Kate’s book How To Build A Family: The essential guide for blended families and becoming a step-parent is available now. You can buy your copy here!
JOIN US FOR OUR BIGGEST LIVE SHOW EVER! We’re heading to Edinburgh for our biggest live show ever. We’ll be taking over the iconic Usher Hall for one night only on 3rd September. Head to SIDTLive.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
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Should I Delete That is produced by Faye Lawrence
Studio Manager: Dex Roy
Video Editor: Celia Gomez
Social Media Manager: Sarah English
Music: Alex Andrew
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Okay, so before we get into this week's episode, we just want to say a quick thank you to our sponsor, Ancient and Brave, who, full disclosure, we were both using well before they sponsored us. |
| 0:10.0 | Yes, I was already obsessed with their true magnesium plus, and now I am fully converted. I take it every night before bed, and I honestly sleep so much better, and like real sleep, not just crashing out on the sofa. |
| 0:21.6 | And I've been loving the true hydration. I have it first thing in the morning. It's kind of become a part of my ritual, to be honest. It's coconut water based, has magnesium, potassium, all the good stuff. And it actually hydrates you properly, not just that I had a glass of water kind. |
| 0:35.4 | Right. And I've been learning about this because it gets the electrolytes into your cells, |
| 0:38.3 | not just floating around, doing nothing. |
| 0:40.5 | And I love that the magnesium helps me wind down. |
| 0:43.5 | It's got three different forms of magnesium that support the nervous system and mood, |
| 0:47.9 | and I swear it's made a difference to how I feel in the morning. |
| 0:51.0 | Also, big love to Ancient and Brave for being more than just a supplement brand. |
| 0:54.7 | They are B-Corp certified, part of the 1% for the planet, and now they actually donate 2% |
| 0:59.7 | of sales to environmental causes. They're also known for their award-winning range of collagen |
| 1:04.0 | and neutropic blends, but these two are our current favourites. So if you want to try them, |
| 1:08.9 | go to ancient and brave.orgth slash planet and use the |
| 1:12.5 | code, delete that for 20% off your first one-off purchase. This is a paid advertisement from BetterHelp. |
| 1:18.7 | Did you know that workplace stress is now one of the top causes of declining mental health, |
| 1:23.6 | with 61% of the global workforce experiencing higher than normal levels of stress. I didn't know that. |
| 1:29.9 | I can relate to it, obviously sitting next to my own workplace stress as I am. But for real, |
| 1:35.9 | it is a huge issue. And I think as more of us are spending more and more time at work, finding it |
| 1:41.2 | harder to be offline and away from our bosses, from feeling like we need |
| 1:46.2 | to be able to communicate at all hours of the day. It's an inevitability that our mental health |
| 1:50.5 | is going to suffer. I mean, our WhatsApp groups are off the charts. And that'll be the case across |
| 1:56.1 | the board. So we obviously can't wave goodbye to work, but we can start small with a focus on wellness. |
... |
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