Josie: “I changed my mind about kids when I met the right man”

Big Brother star Josie Gibson exclusively reveals to Closer’s Annabelle Lee that she’s having her first baby – and is looking forward to a festival-style wedding with her new man

She was the party girl who always swore she didn’t want children. But since finding love with her new partner, things have changed for Josie Gibson – who excitedly reveals to Closer that she is five months pregnant! The Big Brother star – who won the show in 2010 – got together with her partner Terry, 48, a property developer, last summer and Josie says they are thrilled with the news.

“We are so excited! I feel so relaxed and calm,” says Josie. “Although I think I’m still in shock. We left our first scan and I just looked at Terry and said, ‘What have we done?!’ Life is going to change a lot, but we are so happy.”

In the past, Josie revealed she didn’t think she wanted children. She dated ex-fiancé Luke Sanwo, a plumber, for six years, and had her heart broken again by engineer Sam Player in May last year after just six weeks together. But she reveals everything changed when she started dating Terry.

MISCARRIAGE HEARTBREAK

“It was finding the right man that changed my opinion on having children,” Josie says. “I’ve always been with men who I’ve had to look after, and I knew that having kids with them would make my life a struggle. But Terry is brilliant – he’s been a friend of the family for almost 20 years, so I know he’s a good guy. He’s really excited and I know he’s going to be consumed with love when the baby arrives.”

And the star, who is well known for her love of partying and festivals, says she’s looking forward to this new chapter in her life.

“I joked to Terry, ‘My life’s over! There’s no more travelling, no more partying’. And he replied, ‘No, it’s just begun!’ So he went off and bought this campervan for us to have family holidays in. Most of my friends have young kids and they’ve started inviting me on family camping trips. I’ve always been a party girl and I thought my friends were missing out on my single life – but now I realise I was the one who was missing out.”

However, this pregnancy hasn’t come easily for Josie. In November last year, she had a miscarriage at 11 weeks and admits the experience was heartbreaking.

“I didn’t realise I’d feel such an attachment to the baby from day one,” she says. “We were really excited and bought all the stuff we needed, so to have that happen felt like our dreams had been crushed. When we found out I was expecting again, Terry said, ‘I don’t want to think about it too much for now as I’m scared I’ll have my heart broken again’.”

HOPE AGAIN

After sadly losing her baby, Josie was pregnant again within a month and, thankfully, her scans have shown they have a healthy baby. She says, “We didn’t think it would happen this quickly. I was at my friend’s bootcamp in Ibiza and realised I was feeling really tired. Then I thought, ‘Where’s my period?’ and went to get a test. I rang Terry and he was over the moon. We haven’t found out the sex yet, but we like Diggory for a boy and Valerie for a girl.”

The 5ft 11 star – who lost 6st in 2012,

‘I’d weigh myself every day – now I don’t care’

dropping from a size 20 to a size 6, and had a tummy tuck in 2016 – admits she has put on weight recently, but jokes that not much of the gain has been down to pregnancy.

“When I met Terry I was 10st 8lbs and felt really good – now I’ve put on 3st. Before I gained weight, I’d weigh myself every day and panic if I went over 11st. But now I don’t care as much. I think part of the weight gain is being pregnant, but I’ve also stopped exercising – and I’m greedy!”

FINDING MR RIGHT

But while Josie – who’s now a size 14–16 – admits she’d like to shape up once the baby arrives, she also says she refuses to get anxious about her weight gain. She tells us, “Terry will say, ‘I don’t care what you look like as long as we’re getting on and we’re in love.’ But then he’s got a dad bod, which I’m a fan of!” After years of looking for Mr Right, Josie admits she has found everything she needs in Terry, but she’s been keen to keep him out of the spotlight. “He’s so loving and funny,” says the star. “He’s got my back and makes me feel secure. I’d love to get married; I tell him we’ll have a festival-style wedding. We’re just so happy and excited.”