Rio’s kids want him to propose!
The TOWIE star is helping him move on
If anyone deserves a happily ever after, it’s former footballer Rio Ferdinand. And it looks like he’s found it in EX-TOWIE star Kate Wright.
Two years after tragically losing his wife – and then his mum – to cancer, friends say Rio is ready to marry again, and his three children are telling him to go for it.
“Rio is smitten with Kate, and his whole family have encouraged him to propose,” says heat’s insider close to the sports presenter, who is dad to Lorenz, ten, Tate, eight, and Tia, six, and has been dating the reality star since the start of the year.
“Kate has been dropping hints about putting a ring on it, and even the kids are in on the plan – playing the Beyoncé song to their dad. A New Year’s engagement is on the cards, and Rio will get a bespoke ring designed in LA. It’s clear to everyone they are blissfully happy and there won’t be a dry eye in the house when they get married.”
It’s been an emotional week for Kate and Rio, 38, as extracts from his autobiography
Thinking Out Loud were released. In it, he talks openly about losing his wife, Rebecca, to breast cancer in 2015, and reveals how she gave her blessing to him moving on, telling a friend shortly before her death, “You know what kills me? Thinking of him alone and lonely. If I don’t make it, I don’t want Rio to be miserable. I want him to be happy.” Our source adds, “Rio is extremely spiritual. He feels Rebecca’s presence and knows she would’ve approved of Kate.”
Kate, 26, quit showbiz last month for her boyfriend, explaining her decision to “keep my life private… my priority right now is Rio and the family”. The insider adds, “Kate isn’t some gold-digging Essex girl. She’s turned her back on all that – and she can’t wait to marry Rio.”