Kate Ferdinand: “I was in an unhappy place – now I love life”
The former TOWIE star opens up about how she conquered her body demons and embraces life as a stepmum to husband Rio Ferdinand’s three children
With her enviable curves and minuscule waist, it’s hard to believe Kate Ferdinand has been anything other than confident about her body over the years. But the former TOWIE star – who quit the Essex reality show in 2016 after finding love with former England footballer Rio Ferdinand – says she’s been riddled with insecurities for most of her life. While her journey towards body confidence hasn’t been easy, 27-year-old Kate reveals she’s finally learned to love her body.
She tells Closer, “I’ve reached that point of being happy with what I’ve got and who I am, rather than trying to compare myself to others. I’ve learned to stop striving to look like someone I’m never going to look like. I’m never going to have long supermodel legs, but now I’m starting to love my short legs!”
A NEW PERSPECTIVE
For Kate, life changed considerably when she met Rio and became stepmum to his three children, Lorenz, 13, Tate, 11, and eight-year old Tia, following the death of their mum – Rio’s fist wife, Rebecca – to breast cancer in 2015. The children were also struggling with the loss of Rio’s mum, Janice, who died of breast cancer two years later. And Kate says the responsibility of co-parenting three young and vulnerable children gave her a renewed outlook on life. She explains, “Life has been put into perspective in recent years. I know what’s important and what isn’t. As long as I feel happy, it’s not all about what I look like any more.”
Although Kate’s never felt so content, she admits she hasn’t always felt so in control.
In fact, the star reveals she suffered with anxiety and crippling body dysmorphia which, at times, left her unable to leave her house. Reflecting on her teenage years, Kate explains, “Sometimes I’d get ready and go to my friend’s house and we’d take photos of ourselves before going out. Then I’d look at the photos and cry, and go ‘I want to go home’ – and I would. I always felt I looked bigger or different. It was mad now I look back at it, but I was just in a really unhappy place.”
In a bid to lose weight, she became caught up in a spiral of yo-yo dieting and restrictive meal plans, which involved cutting out sugar and juicing. “I tried every diet going,” she says, “I used to binge for three days and then be strict again. Even though my weight never really went up and down much, I had an unhealthy relationship with food.”
With age, Kate eventually grew out of her disordered eating cycle and focused on following a high-protein and low-carb diet that she discovered while on TOWIE.
“I struggled to eat healthily on the show because you’re filming all day and then you snack on rubbish,” she says. “But I’d taken a DNA test that works out from your genes what foods suit your body better. It said that my body struggles to break down carbs, so I eat more protein than carbs and that’s helped me along the way to figure out what’s right for my body.” She adds, “Now I eat three meals a day and aim for half my plate to be protein, a quarter carbs and a quarter vegetables. I try to snack on healthy stuff like berries or nuts.”
FAMILY LIFE
Though Kate admits her eating habits fell by the wayside when she moved in with Rio, 41, and embraced family life. “I was having the same as the kids – and they eat a lot! – and then I would have all their leftovers, too,” laughs Kate. “I’d just be scooping the mash out of the pan saying, ‘Oh, kids, you’re not eating this? I’ll have it.’ Because I was so caught up in being a stepmum, I sort of forgot about myself.” She adds, “I said, ‘Enough is enough – I need to change it so that I can eat
what I want.’ So now, if the kids have salmon and potatoes, I might have salmon and sweet potatoes. I still have the same dinner, but in a way that works for me as well.”
BIG ADJUSTMENT
These days, the star maintains her figure with regular exercise, which she says helps lower her anxiety levels too. She works out four or five times a week with Rio at their home gym, doing weights and HIIT. “We motivate each other and it gets a bit competitive,” she giggles. “Sometimes we infuriate each other, because we each think we know best! But working out makes me feel really happy
– it just takes you away from everything.”
After marrying Rio last September in a lavish ceremony in Turkey, Kate says she couldn’t be happier. She’s swapped nights out and girls’ holidays in Marbs for the school run and cooking family dinners – and says she wouldn’t have it any other way. “I’ve been transported into a different life,” she says. “It was a struggle at the beginning and a big adjustment for me. I was 26 with no kids and I came into a household with three children who had lost their mum – that was really hard work at the beginning. But now I love my life and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
By Vicki Power
● Fitter, Happier, Healthier: The Ultimate Body Plan by Kate Ferdinand (Michael Joseph, £16.99)
‘I was caught up in being a stepmum – I forgot about
myself ’