KATE Ferdinand has opened out about life as a stepmother to husband Rio's kids.
The former Towie star and footballer married in 2019, four years after Rio's first wife Rebecca Ellison died of cancer.
With their relationship and subsequent marriage, Kate became a stepmother to three children – Lorenz, 15, Tate, 13, and Tia, 11. Together they've gone on to have another son, Cree, two.
But speaking to a psychologist on her Blended podcast, Kate admitted she sometimes struggled with her position in her kids lives, especially when it came to navigating grief and sadness.
"When they're a little bit older and you know, you can see them grieving for maybe their parent or they've lost someone, as a parent, all you want to do is make everything better," she said. "And I know you can't always do that, but that can be quite an overwhelming feeling sometimes.
I want to help young primary pupils with their warring parents
"How can you advise parents to deal with that? Because I know me personally, I get… all I want to do is make it better and sometimes I can't, and I find it hard to deal with those emotions."
Dr Martha Deiros Collado responded by telling Kate the best thing to do is to support your child as they tackle the emotion.
"This is going to be a hard thing to say, but it's not your job to make your children feel better," Dr Martha explained. "Your job is to be there for your children - you can't make them better.
"Going through grief or missing a parent who has died is so hard, and missing is about connection. When we miss somebody, it's because they were important to us, right? We valued their presence. We loved being with them."
"So, you know, it's gonna sound kind of at odds maybe with the ideas around grief, but for me, it's not about moving away from grief – it's about how you keep that person alive with you even when they're dead," she added.
"So it's about just being with your young person/teenager/ whoever they are, and just allowing their feelings to be seen. You don't have to make it better."
The comments come after Kate admitted she sometimes felt like an "outsider" in the family even five years into their relationship.
