How super-sized families became the must-have for every A-lister
Now pregnant Abbey Clancy joins the gang
ABBEY Clancy is looking swell as she and Peter Crouch reveal they are expecting their fourth child.
The model, 32, was snapped cradling her stomach during a break with her family in Dubai.
Earlier, Stoke City star Peter, 37, posted a snap of her in a bikini with her hands on her bump, writing: “Baby no 4 on the way. I blame @ OfficialClancy for looking like this.”
And Abbey stuck the image on Instagram, saying: “When a hat-trick just wont do!!! #babynumber4.”
Abbey married footballer Peter in 2011 and they had son Johnny in January 2018, joining daughters Sophia Ruby, seven, and Liberty Rose, three. But she said her third pregnancy was so rough it hit her relationship with the girls.
She said: “I was so ill, I was in bed nine months and in hospital a few times. I was throwing up 24/7.
“I couldn’t spend a lot of quality time with my two other children.”
Tana Ramsay excitedly announcing her pregnancy is the big showbiz news of the New Year. She revealed her baby bump while she and her four children beamed in a film posted by her husband Gordon, who says: “Oh my Lord – oh no!”
He’s joking. Because chef Gordon, 52, is clearly thrilled – especially after the devastation of 44-year-old Tana’s miscarriage two years ago.
Soon he’ll join the super-exclusive celebrity club of super-families, where membership only requires a big clan.
Eddie Murphy, 57, was this week pictured with his 10 kids ranging from three weeks to 30. Mel Gibson, 62, has nine children. Angelina Jolie, 43, and Madonna, 60, each have six.
Looking after three under the age of five has been such a breeze for Kim Kardashian, 38, she and Kanye, 41, are having a fourth.
Abbey Clancy, 32, and footballer Peter Crouch, 37, are also expecting a fourth because “a hat-trick just won’t do”.
Coleen and Wayne Rooney welcomed their fourth son two years ago, while Katie Price says she would like to add to her gaggle of five.
So is a big brood the ultimate celebrity status symbol? Why?
Is it that so many celebrity dads are alpha males? Are some women in love with the feeling of being “mum”?
And if you adore the unconditional love of a baby in the cold world of showbiz, why not have another... and another... and another?
Or is it because only fit, healthy couples with meticulously organised lives can cope with the chaos of having so many little monsters.
Even Jamie Oliver couldn’t help getting involved when he spoke of having more children than fellow chef Gordon.
“Boys will always fight and butt heads but Tana was mortified. I mean really mortified,” Gordon said of his remarks.
Then there’s the Instagram-perfect family, David and Victoria Beckham and their four kids. Pictures of his sixpack have become the norm. It’s posts of Victoria baking unicorn biscuits with daughter Harper that leaves us saying: “How does she do it?”.
The more children, the greater our admiration. If you’ve heard of Helena Morrissey, it’s probably not because of the 51-year-old’s role as head of personal investing at Legal & General but because of her nine children.
Never mind the financial deals she’s brokering – she gets up at 5am and spends her weekends baking.
In a world where money doesn’t matter, nor do age gaps.
The 17 years between Gordon and Tana’s new baby and youngest child Matilda might be unusual for most families – not for celeb mums. Barely an eyebrow arched when Rachel Weisz gave birth aged 48 and Brigitte Nielsen had her fifth child at 54.
Thanks to Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Nicole Kidman and Ayda Field, surrogacy is as normal to them as stretch marks are to the rest of us.
What they have in common is a fortune. Family sizes are not curbed by worries about juggling childcare or being able to afford school uniforms.
There’s always paid help on hand. Baby awake all night? Ring the night nurse! Being a taxi mum a bit taxing? Page the chauffeur! Kids falling behind at school? Fire the tutor!
Father-of-four Pharrell Williams has 12 nurses to look after his triplets. When I had my triplet girls, nearly ten years ago, there was me, my husband Michael and loving grandparents.
So am I jealous? Hell yes.