Hey Guys! Well, it's been quite a journey since the last time we chatted, and I've stepped out of my little bubble to share a special life update... Shae's here! In today's mini update, I'll take you on a journey through what it's been like getting to know my gorgeous little girl and adapting to life with not just a newborn, but a toddler and teenagers! You know, trying to find our new rhythm and establish a fresh routine. But let me tell you, it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows. Shae...

Hey Guys! This is the last time you’ll hear from me for a little while, because when this episode comes out I’ll be 37 weeks pregnant and officially on maternity leave! To be honest I've been on maternity leave unofficially for a week or so because the tiredness has hit me SO hard. Before I go, I want to leave you with some final bits to round off this amazing series of Blended. You’ll hear my final preparations for pregnancy, an interesting update from team Blended and I’ve selected some of...

Today on Blended, we are speaking to a guest that so many of you have been asking for! Former Queen of the Jungle, podcaster and author Vicky Pattison! Although Vicky herself isn’t part of a Blended family, hearing her journey to potential parenthood is very in keeping with the family stories we love to hear on Blended. Earlier this year she took the decision to freeze her eggs and start an IVF journey, but it hasn’t gone completely to plan. During a scan in January, the doctors discovered...

TW: This discussion covers displacement through war, and descriptions of death and violence so please be kind to yourself when listening. Next week marks Refugee Week here in the UK, and we’re honoured to be joined on Blended by the inspiring Waad Al-Kateab. Waad is a Syrian journalist, filmmaker, and activist. Her documentary, For Sama, was nominated for four BAFTA’s, winning Best Documentary, and it was also nominated for Best Documentary Feature at The Oscars. ‘For Sama’ is a love letter...

Hey Guys! As you’ll hear in today’s episode, life has been busy over the last few weeks! So it feels like a good time to fill you in on what I’ve been up to, book launches, birthdays and my ever growing bump! Thank you so much for all your questions that came in from my Instagram Q&A, I do my best to answer all the things you want to know! We’ve got such an exciting last few weeks on this series of Blended so please stick around and I’m hoping to do another one of these before going off...

Hey Guys! As you’ll hear in today’s episode, life has been busy over the last few weeks! So it feels like a good time to fill you in on what I’ve been up to, book launches, birthdays and my ever growing bump! Thank you so much for all your questions that came in from my Instagram Q&A, I do my best to answer all the things you want to know! We’ve got such an exciting last few weeks on this series of Blended so please stick around and I’m hoping to do another one of these before going off...

Nevine Coutry is the founder of the UK’s first dating app for single parents, ‘Playdate’. After divorcing her ex-husband in 2016, Nevine found herself as a single parent to her 3 year old son. Nevine tried all the mainstream dating apps looking for a new partner but would often get ghosted after mentioning her son or her divorce. It wasn’t until a couple years later at a friends’ birthday party that Nevine met a single dad, and they hit it off immediately. They joined family units and Nevine...

TW: Mentions of self-harm and suicide Today we welcome the wonderful Louis Weinstock to Blended. Louis is a psychotherapist, hypnotherapist and coach who has 20 years experience in guiding adults and children through some of the toughest challenges life can throw at us: loss, trauma, divorce, burnout and breakdowns. Louis is also a published author, his book ‘How The World Is Making Our Children Mad and What To Do About It’ gives children the tools they need to look after their mental...

Hey guys! Loads of you have been getting in touch with questions about Rio and I so it only felt right that I got him back on the podcast.We set the record straight on how we met, and as you’ll hear he didn’t make the best first impression… We also chat about how we’ve blended our lifestyles, how we resolve arguments (sort of) and there’s a bit of banter too. Safe to say Rio left the studio feeling like I’d taken the mick out of him but we do actually answer these questions honestly and...

Here’s something very special for all the Blended listeners. A few weeks back, I did a live show with the amazing host of the Motherkind podcast, Zoe Blaskey. If you haven’t heard of the Motherkind podcast before, it’s basically a show where wellbeing experts help you find your calm, happy place in the madness of modern mum life. So today we’re sharing an episode of Motherkind where Zoe chatted to Reshma Saujani. Resham spent the last 10 years telling girls to lean in and fight to get to...

Hi guys, I’ve got something very exciting to share with you today, it’s been a long time in the making, but I’m so excited to say that my brand new book ‘How To Build a Family’ is out tomorrow - I can’t quite believe it! How to Build a Family is a nurturing handbook that I wish I’d been given when I started out my journey in a fully blended family. As well as my experiences, and those of other blended families, it has advice and tips from experts you’ve heard on the show like Julia Samuel...

Today’s episode of Blended is with content creator, author, mother and in her words survivor, Grace Victory. In December 2020, Grace was seven months pregnant when she was diagnosed with a severe case of Covid. Grace was taken into emergency care and their son Cyprus was delivered via C-section. Hours after giving birth on Christmas Eve, Grace was put in a voluntary coma to treat her Covid. Months passed and Grace’s condition declined, Doctors only gave her a 5% chance to live. Remarkably...

Hey guys, I thought now might be a good time to update you with what’s been going on in my world because believe me it’s been chaotic. The headlines are holidays, hospitals and a whole lot of baby brain. I’ve also been getting loads of questions from you guys about how we’re getting on with potty training Cree and as you’ll hear, it’s been an interesting experience… I love checking in with you guys and just letting you know what I’ve been up to, I hope it’s relatable or at the very least...

Raising kids is no small feat and I think most people listening in will be able to relate. Whether you are part of a Blended family or not, this messy, yet beautiful, chapter we call childhood is FULL of questions, worries and concerns and sometimes all you want is a bit of support so that you can feel more comfortable supporting your kids in return. With the new baby on the way, I’ve been encountering a lot more questions so I thought why not go back to parenting expert Dr Martha Deiros...

Today on Blended, we’re joined by the lovely reality TV star, Lydia Bright. For pretty much all of Lydia’s life she’s been part of a Blended family. Her Mum Debbie and Dad Dave fostered over 250 children across 27 years, as well as having 3 biological children of their own meaning the Bright household was always a busy place to be! Lydia’s now a single mother herself, raising her three year old daughter Loretta. This chat focuses on both the Blended sides of Lydia’s life, the amazing and...

Today’s episode of Blended is all about positive co-parenting and the process of blending two families with the hilarious Rickie Haywood Williams and Natalie Harman. You may know Rickie from TV and Radio, he currently presents a Radio 1 show alongside Melvin Odoom and Charlie Hedges, but chances are you haven’t heard of his partner Natalie who remains out of the spotlight, this was her first time doing a podcast but you’d never know! Rickie and Natalie met three years ago and after a...

Today we have a very familiar face on Blended in the name of ex-footballer and more importantly my husband, Rio Ferdinand. Rio finally comes on the podcast for a full episode to talk about how the family has changed from his perspective over the years. Rio also discusses growing up in a blended family, both of his parents finding new partners and how his upbringing impacts the decisions he makes as a parent himself today. There’s also a lot of banter in this episode, you can say what you...

Something we place a lot of importance on in the Blended community is being really open and honest with our feelings and that’s exactly what we are in today’s episode with grief expert, loss author and CEO of the charity The Mariposa Trust (widely known by its primary support division ’Saying Goodbye’,) Zoe Clark-Coates MBE. As you may remember from her last episode on Blended, Zoe has lost five babies, but her ability to take the positives and honour life from these experiences is so...

This week on Blended we have an inspiring conversation on single parenthood with author of the book ‘Liv’s Alone: Amateur Adventures in Solo Motherhood’, Liv Thorne. When Liv Thorne was in her twenties, and single, she would joke to friends that if ‘Mr Right’ didn't come along she'd have to take matters into her own hands and have a child on her own. When she was still single in her thirties, it stopped being a joke and she started researching sperm banks and fertility clinics. Having...

Today’s episode of Blended is all about Mother’s Day, an event which can mean so many things to different people. That’s why for today’s episode I really wanted you to hear my husband Rio’s perspective on this day. Rio and I talk about how our family has changed over the years and how our emotions of grief evolve around Mother's Day as time goes on. Rio will describe himself as not having massive highs and lows in his emotions but he’s really getting better at voicing his feelings...

After her advice went down so well with you guys at Christmas, we decided to invite child psychotherapist and co-host of the ’Therapy Works’ podcast Emily Samuel back to Blended to answer your questions. It can be really easy to get caught up in our emotions and everything can seem a little bit overwhelming in parenthood, but Emily gives simple and actionable advice to use. We cover a range of topics including: dealing with grief, divorce, and how we can best support neurodiverse children...

Today on Blended we welcome author Lisa Timoney. Lisa has written 3 novels, including ‘Her Daughter’s Secret’ and ‘Her Mother’s Lies’, stories that are centred around Blended family setups. Lisa was adopted at a young age alongside her elder adopted sister owing to her adopted parents’ fertility problems. Lisa’s adopted parents are now divorced, putting her in the unique position of having 3 sets of parents, although she’s not reconnected with her biological parents who had her as teenagers....

I have a very special guest today on Blended… finally my husband Rio has agreed to join me! This is because we’re so excited to announce the gender of our baby with you all. It was great to sit down with Rio and relive the chaotic way we found out for ourselves. As Rio says “it was a typical Ferdinand household gender reveal, it went wrong!” as you’ll hear for yourself… Rio and I laughed so much making this, we hope you enjoy listening to our little family update as much as we enjoyed...

Today’s episode of Blended is all about celebrating and understanding different ethnicities within Blended families and discussing how we can become the most authentic version of ourselves. Adrienne Herbert’s life centres around positivity and motivation. She’s the host of the Power Hour podcast, a TedTalk speaker and one of the UK’s leading wellness professionals, but her story hasn’t always been easy. She grew up one of four siblings in a single parent household and being one of the...