RIO Ferdinand has revealed that he was "drinking most nights" after his wife's death before Kate Wright "saved him".
The former footballer tragically lost his wife, Rebecca Ferdinand, to breast cancer in 2015 and he was left to care for their three children alone.
A new BBC documentary airing tonight will follow Kate as she integrates into the family and becomes step-mum to Rio's three children Lorenz, Tate and Tia.
But before Kate came along, Rio was in a "bad place" and turned to booze when his kids went to bed.
"I was drinking most nights once the kids had gone to bed. I was in a bad place" he told You magazine.
"I thought I kept it hidden from them, and hearing that was hard for me. I'd shut down but meeting Kate changed that and surely that can only be a good thing."
He says: "I thought I’m never going to be happy again.
"I’ll never meet anyone, I was just really content with just being me and the kids and that’s all I thought it was going to be. And then something just happened.
"When you speak to the kids and the response is much more fun in the house, like – what dad couldn’t want that?
"She’s uplifting, she’s added value to this house given where it was. It was at a low ebb.
"You feel you’ve been dealt a terrible hand, but your luck can change."
The intimate documentary shows the family struggling to cope with grief and Kate breaks down in tears as she takes on the role of ‘mum’ to three grieving children.
And with the memory of Rebecca still very much present, a set of unique, emotionally complicated challenges emerge.
Sobbing, she says: "I just want the children to be happy."
Elsewhere in the film Rio explains: "There ain't no manual that tells you how to become a step-mum."
And Kate adds: "It's hard for us so I just can't imagine how hard it is for the kids."
But it appears there will be light at the end of the tunnel as the documentary also shows Kate and Rio's wedding day.
"You feel you've been dealt a terrible hand but your luck can change," Rio says.
The couple tied the knot last year with Kate taking on the role of mother to Rio's three children.
Posting on Instagram about the show last month, Kate wrote: "This is a hugely important and personal project for @rioferdy5 and I. For the last year we have been filming a new @bbcone documentary ‘Rio and Kate: Becoming a Step Family’
"We have been on such a journey and we really hope the film will help other step families and those experiencing the journey of grief ?? coming soon ❤️."
The documentary will air on Monday 10 February at 9pm on BBC One and follows on from the former Manchester United player's previous BBC documentary, Being Mum and Dad, when he bravely opened about life as a single parent after his wife's passing.
The documentary, which aired in March 2017, left viewers in floods of tears as he spoke about his struggle to raise his children alone.
At the time Rio was hailed a “warrior”, “brave” and “a brilliant dad” by celebrities and TV fans alike as they watched him break down in tears talking about his late wife.
This new show will now document his journey since he met and married Kate, who is now step-mum to his kids.
His late wife Rebecca passed away after a battle with breast cancer on May 2, 2015, aged just 34.
Before her death, Rebecca had tried to talk to her husband about life after she was gone – but struggling to cope with her illness, he dismissed the conversation.
Instead, she left a message with her best friend Lisa, giving Rio her blessing to love again as she didn't want him to be “alone and miserable”.
Writing in his autobiography, Rio said: “Rebecca told Lisa something in the final weeks of her life.
“Months later Lisa told me what it was . . . ‘It kills me to think of Rio with a new partner, Lisa, you know it does. Of course it does.
“'But you know what kills me even more? Thinking of him alone and lonely.
"'If I don’t make it, Lisa, I don’t want Rio to be miserable. I want him to be happy’.”
The couple had been dating for several years before they married in 2009, three years after they gave birth to their first son.
Though she had been fighting the disease for a short time, Rio and Rebecca remained private about her ill health so it came as a huge shock when her death was announced.
Meanwhile, last month Kate revealed how hurt she felt after her husband Rio's kids told her she wasn't their mum in a heated argument.
She opened up about the struggles she's faced with being a new parent to his three children.
The former Towie star revealed all about the realities of becoming a step-mum to her husband's kids.
Speaking to the Times Magazine, Kate explained how a huge argument with Tate, 11, Lorenz, 13, and Tia Ferdinand, 8, had upset her.
"You don't know," one of Rio's children told her, "because you're not a mum."
"The minute they said it, there was a gasp," she said, adding: "They've never said it again."
She added: "But I'm not their mum. But I act like a mum and I see them as my children."
The reality star revealed that she struggled with taking on the role of a mum as she moved into her husband's home and found cooking family meals for them all particularly challenging.
"Simple things like I forgot to cut their toenails. I was so busy trying to do everything perfectly and someone pointed out they needed their toenails cut.
"Or cooking. I couldn't cook very well when I met Rio and the kids. I would burn everything.
"I would go, 'Is it nice?' and they would say, 'Not really.'"
After the initial struggle of adjusting to Kate's new role in the family home, counselling helped her feel a lot more at ease – and she realised that she just needed to be herself.
The star revealed that her step-children still talk about their mum every day and have a room of photos dedicated to her.
Source: Read Full Article
