'She's going to be a star' Rio Ferdinand reveals how he told his children their mum had passed away
Rebecca passed away in 2015
Rio Ferdinand has revealed how he told his children his wife Rebecca had passed away in his new autobiography.
The father-of-three had the difficult task of telling his three children their mother wasn't coming back after she died of cancer in 2015.
In an extract of his new autobiography, obtained by The Sun, the dad described how he was 'lost for words' when he told his kids about Rebecca's death.
'I gazed at my beautiful children, lost for words, searching for a way to begin,' he wrote.
Rebecca passed away in 2015
He then shared what he told them: 'I'm afraid I've got to tell you something very, very sad. She's going to be a star — she's going to go up into the stars as a spirit, and she'll always be there in the sky, looking down on us…'
In the extract, Rio also reveals his children keep their mum's old clothes under their pillows.
GoodtoKnow Newsletter
Parenting advice, hot topics, best buys and family finance tips delivered straight to your inbox.
'They wear Rebecca's old cardigans or pyjama tops in bed, and God help whoever moves them while tidying up. The clothes live under the kids' pillows, and are not going anywhere,' he wrote.
Rio has previously opened up about losing the mother of his children - Lorenz, 11, Tate, nine, and daughter Tia, five - to breast cancer.
Rio on a family holiday this summer
'This is one of the only things in life that we're going to go through together, where I haven't got the answers for them, and that's quite a worrying, daunting thing', he said during the documentary he made for the BBC, Rio Ferdinand: Being Mum and Dad.
The former footballer, who also sadly lost his mum to cancer earlier this year, is now dating TOWIE star Kate Wright, who quit her showbiz career to focus on Rio and his family.
Trusted, informative, and empathetic – GoodToKnow is the ultimate online destination for mums. Established in 2007, our 15-year-strong archive of content includes more than 18,000 articles, 1,500 how-to videos, and 7,000 recipes.
-
13 traits experienced by adults who were lonely children, according to a psychologist (#4 definitely isn’t a bad thing)
Psychologists have identified 13 traits experienced by adults who were lonely as children. But they can all be turned into positives, and lonely kids can make resilient adults.
By Lucy Wigley Published
-
Do you and your partner disagree on parenting styles? Try these 8 tips from a psychotherapist that model respect and compromise despite your differences
You and your partner might disagree on parenting styles, and that's OK. Try these eight psychotherapist-backed tips that help you model respect and compromise anyway.
By Lucy Wigley Published