Danielle: “Being a mum has given my life meaning”

Danielle Lloyd talks about helping her mum Jackie through her illness and taking the family to Marbella

She made a name for S herself as a hard-partying glamour model. But Danielle Lloyd has told Closer how being a mum has completely changed her life.

The star reached an all-time low in 2009, when she almost lost her leg after being thrown across a table laden with glass bottles during a vicious attack in a nightclub. She lost a lot of blood and required 20 stitches, with the surgeon stressing that the incident could have left her paralysed.

But now, Danielle, 34, has turned her back on the late-night showbiz scene and prefers to spend quality time with her four sons – Archie, seven, Harry, six, and George, four, from her marriage to Jamie O’hara, and five-month-old Ronnie, her first child with fiancé Michael O’neill.

REWARDING JOB

She tells Closer, “It’s turned my life around and I’m a completely different person. I used to love getting drunk and having big nights out. Now, I can’t imagine anything worse – I can’t cope with a hangover with four young kids.

“Being a mum is the hardest job but it’s also the most rewarding. I wouldn’t have it any other way – my life has so much more meaning now. It’s also a lot more structured.”

And Danielle also believes that parenthood has changed her relationship with Michael – who popped the question in 2016, after just six months of dating – for the better.

She adds, “It’s brought us much closer as a couple. He is so hands-on and helps so much. We are both exhausted half the time but we get to share the boys, which is so special.”

Danielle is no stranger to controversy. Last month, she hit the headlines after she was seen with a bruised face. Her spokesperson then announced she’d had a reaction to fillers after being bullied into having surgery by online trolls.

And last year she landed in hot water after saying she’d use gender selection to ensure she had a girl during her next pregnancy.

Now, Danielle admits she’s been leaning on her mum Jackie, who sadly was diagnosed with fibromyalgia – a long-term illness that causes chronic pain – muscle stiffness and fatigue in 2015.

Danielle says, “My mum is my best friend. We’re like sisters. We do bicker as well – she is very strong-minded and I’m much more laid back. She gets the hump if I don’t agree with her all the time.

“It breaks my heart that she has a debilitating disease. It’s really hard for her now to help me with the kids and I just want her to get better. It doesn’t make me appreciate her more because I’ve always appreciated her. She does so much for me and has been with me through my darkest moments. I love her so much.”

FAMILY HOLIDAY

To show her appreciation on Mother’s Day, Danielle took her mum and Michael’s out for lunch. And there’s also a treat in store for her. She reveals, “I’m going on holiday with my boys to Marbella in April. They’ve been so funny about it. They keep saying, ‘When are we going to Marbs?’ And even George says, ‘Are we getting a yacht when we go on holiday?’ What have I created?!”