Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TV Rachel: Countdown to my baby
Not many prospective mums get to try before they buy when it comes to having a family. But Countdown’s Rachel Riley found the perfect opportunity to see whether she was ready for kids – when she babysat a complete stranger’s children for a new TV show.
Motherhood came knocking more quickly than she expected, however. Just weeks before filming began, Rachel and husband Pasha Kovalev found out they were expecting their first child.
“It’s crazy how the universe has plans for you,” she says. “At the end of last year I was thinking about a family and I guess this show is the only way you can try before you buy with kids.
“I’ve got so many friends who are having babies, and I think last year I was kind of like, ‘Ooh, yeah, they seem to be enjoying it’. But there’s no way to have one and then go, ‘No, it’s not for me’. So I just thought this show would be fun as an experiment to see what it’s like.”
New reality series My Famous Babysitter sees her move into a family home and look after kids she’s never met. But she adds: “I had no idea when I signed up for the show that I’d be pregnant when I filmed it.”
Rachel and Pasha married last June at a simple ceremony in Las Vegas, which came as a delightful surprise to fans.
The newlyweds are now in the final few weeks of the pregnancy, with Rachel due before Christmas, and don’t yet know whether they are having a son or a daughter.
“Pasha and I are honestly really excited,” she says. “It’s scary and exciting all at the same time.
“Our parents are over the moon and so are our friends.
“I’ve got babies coming out of my ears at the moment. Three of my best friends are pregnant so I’ve got good, sensible friends who I trust to talk things through with and get advice from.”
Rachel, 33, met Pasha, 39, when she was paired with the Strictly Come Dancing professional on the show in 2013.
They started dating a year later and have been together ever since.
So what kind of dad will Pasha be? “Just lovely,” Rachel, replies swiftly.
“I mean, he is the most chilled out person in the world. He’s so supportive and lovely, so yeah, it’s going to be very exciting, this next chapter in our life.”
With Pasha’s Russian heritage, Rachel says their child will be raised bilingual and she is working hard to improve her own language skills so she’s not left out.
“His mum doesn’t speak English, so I’ve had to learn,” she says. “I can have a basic conversation, so I’m just waiting for the point when my baby will speak better Russian than me.
“You pick languages up more easily as a kid and the method I’ve been using to learn Russian is the same way that kids learn, to an extent.
“I’m excited for my child to have the skill of being bilingual, it’s certainly a positive thing.”
Rachel was brought up in a workingclass Jewish household in Rochford, Essex, with parents who always encouraged her to focus on her education above all else.
Her father Christopher, a chartered accountant, was the first in his family to go to university, and mum Celia was a charity fundraiser.
Rachel went on to get four A-levels at Southend High School for Girls before studying at Oriel College, Oxford.
So, with an Oxfordeducated mathematician for a mum and a world-class dancer for a dad, it’s safe to say their child will not be short of brains or talent.
But like any new mum, Rachel says she just wants to make sure they are happy.
She says: “I think teaching responsibility and independence and encouraging them to enjoy school, enjoy learning, that’s the thing that’s taken me the furthest in life.
“If they want to be a dancer, I think their dad can take the lead on that. My
philosophy for my family is just to make sure you have happy kids over everything else.”
Rachel is convinced their son or daughter is going to run rings around them when they arrive in a few weeks’ time.
“I don’t think either of us will be a disciplinarian,” she says.
“I think we might have a shock in store when the little one’s drawing with crayons all over the wall.
“It’s quite possible our baby is going to have both of us wrapped around their little finger!”
A self-confessed night owl, Rachel hoped signing up to Famous Babysitter on
W would help her to discover whether she has what it takes to be a mum. “To be honest I just wanted to see if I have enough energy and patience to be around kids all the time,” she confesses. “I have my friends with kids and my nephew but you have them inshort doses. “To be around kids from the moment you get up to the moment you go to bed, and do everything and not really have a moment to yourself, it’s quite a scary thing.
“It’s just completely different to being able to hang out when you want, go wherever you want and do whatever you want.” For the show Rachel was paired with the Pearson family. Mum and dad Helen and Dave have four daughters aged eight to 15. Rachel showed up at their door during halfterm and was pushed way out of her comfort zone as she was left to look after them solo 24 hours a day for an entire week.
Juggling all their social activities, homework and chores plus cooking all their meals was a baptism of fire for Rachel, who was worried her vegan lifestyle might cause chaos in the kitchen.
“I’m really awkward with food,” she explains. “So I was kind of hoping that I wouldn’t get a family that just wanted to eat chicken nuggets and pizza all the time – or think I’m a massive weirdo and won’t eat anything that I eat.
“When it’s just two adults together you eat what you want and kind of assume everyone eats similarly.
“But trying to watch four girls and what they’re eating, and say, ‘Don’t eat that packet of crisps and that pastry right before dinner!’, I definitely turned into my mum with those kinds of things.”
Rachel says she quickly discovered she had a lot in common with the girls and, while she was able to help them with their maths homework, she also had a handy contact when Delilah, 10, started panicking about her dance competition.
She says: “I Facetimed Pasha with the girls. He watched her little routine and just said, ‘Keep smiling. Be strong’.
“They were very excited about that and it was nice to share that with Pasha, it was really sweet.
“Then we got off the phone and they were like, ‘He’s very Russian, isn’t he?’ He is!”
So has the experience made her realise how tough being a parent really is?
“Oh, yeah. I mean, being pregnant is the bliss stage, isn’t it?” she adds.
“Most of my friends have had babies and they always joke about not being able to wash your hair, or eat food, or do anything on your own any more.
“I guess it’s good to have had a small taste of that and see that you can get through it.”
■ Rachel is in My Famous Babysitter, Monday, November 11 on W at 10pm.
I guess this show is the only way to try before you buy with kids
RACHEL RILEY ON HER NEW REALITY TV SHOW