Pregnant Kate Ferdinand: ‘This is tougher than I’d imagined’

From the outside, it looks as if Kate Ferdinand has the perfect life. Married to former footballer Rio, she lives in a huge mansion, has three stepchildren who adore her, has her own successful career and is currently pregnant with the couple’s much longed-for baby. But sometimes pictures on Instagram don’t always tell the full truth and despite her seemingly charmed home life, Kate is struggling as she tries to juggle it all.

“Although Kate is loving being pregnant and everyone is so excited about the baby, being pregnant has brought up some old anxieties and worries,” we’re told.

“She’s always been very open about her mental health struggles and this has been no different and has brought on different stresses and sometimes she just needs some time out away from everything. This year has been very full-on, and she struggles to cope at times, but is so thankful to Rio and the kids for supporting her. She often feels under pressure to try and make her life perfect and doesn’t want to disrupt the kids’ lives, but it can all be too much at times and she can feel on the edge.”

Kate – who is expecting a baby boy in December – recently spoke out about her anxieties and struggles and has been trying to be as open as possible with her Instagram followers.

“People’s lives may look a certain way from social media and everything can look perfect but this doesn’t mean they don’t have internal struggles,” she wrote. “It’s OK to feel overwhelmed and unstable even when everything looks perfect from the outside…Mental health is something I have struggled with for as far back as I can remember .... it can be a rocky journey, and one that we have to take with care, being kind to ourselves can be one of the hardest things to do. I just really wanted to say to everyone who is struggling you are not alone.”

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And the former TOWIE star certainly has a lot on her plate at the moment. She is stepmum to Rio’s three children – Lorenz, 13, Tate, 11, and nine-year-old Tia – from his first marriage to late wife Rebecca and last week she revealed that the kids being on half term for two weeks was already hard work, as much as she was enjoying spending more time with them.

Both Kate, 29, and Rio, 41, have admitted that she does most of the stuff around the house and for the children, especially when they had to do home schooling during full lockdown. And because Rio is currently banned form driving for six months, she has had to do all the running around, while being heavily pregnant. And as someone who was very keen on her fitness, we’re told Kate is finding it hard not being able to work out as much as she used to, but friends and family are telling her to slow down.

“She’s done everything perfectly with Rio, nurturing him and his kids, tending to his every need – now her pals are just urging her to slow down and let him look after her for a change,” our insider says. “He absolutely adores her and would do anything for her, but Kate just needs to put her feet up and let him – and stop worrying that she’s not doing everything right. But Kate is adamant that she needs to keep up with her fitness because it’s like her version of therapy and helps with her anxiety. She gets really scared about change and she has been going over all these scenarios in her head of what it'll be like when the baby's here. Her pals have tried to assure her that it’s natural for first time mothers to freak out like that, and that no one ever really knows what they are doing.”

Kate has been regularly getting up early to work out before the kids get up, doing Pilates to stay fit and healthy – but as well as being tired she is also suffering from a bad back, which has plagued her throughout her pregnancy.

“I am hugely struggling with my lower back and groin! I’ve always had back problems, but this is really taking its toll,” she informed her followers. “I don’t like to moan too much on here but the reality is I am struggling, some days it’s manageable and others by the end of the day It’s a struggle to even stand up. Getting my head around losing the ability to move freely is difficult at times, especially with 3 kids and dogs flying around the house like lunatics.”

She has also spoken out about not doing as much exercise as she would like, especially during her first and second trimesters.

“In regards to training I trained for the first 8 weeks and then became absolutely exhausted, I really struggled with everything, I just felt sick tired and all over the place constantly,” she explained. “It was hard for my mind but I really had to listen to my body; rest & take it easy…After the 12 week mark I have started to feel gradually better and felt I could get back into doing more bits that I would normally do and back into training slowly, I’ve been doing Pilates & some weight training – my mind feels so much better for it, for me the gym is like therapy it really does help me stay calm and less anxious. Saying all of this, there are still days I feel absolutely wiped out, have terrible migraines & I do just go back to bed. In all honestly those days I feel so useless and have been having terrible guilt that I’m not around for the kids and Rio is doing everything.”

Despite all her worries, Kate feels so grateful to have a husband like Rio, who has been her rock throughout all of this.

“Rio is being incredible and is treating Kate like a princess,” we’re told. “Everyone’s really excited about the new addition to their family and everyone just wants the best for Kate. She can just be so selfless that sometimes it’s hard for her to realise how good she has got it and that she really does have all the support she could need right now.”