Rio tells of fears he’d ‘never be happy again’
RIO Ferdinand has opened up on fears that he would ‘never be happy again’ following the death of his wife. The former United star’s first wife Rebecca Ellison, 34, lost her life to breast cancer in 2017, leaving behind Rio and the couple’s three children, Lorenz, 12, Tate, 10, and Tia, eight.
Speaking in a documentary alongside his new wife Kate Wright, Rio has spoken about how he was ‘content’ on it being just him and his young children, but ‘something happened.’
Rio, 41, said: “I thought I’m never going to be happy again. I’ll never meet anyone, I was just really content with just being me and the kids and that’s all I thought it was going to be. And then something just happened. When you speak to the kids and the response is much more fun in the house, what dad couldn’t want that? She’s uplifting, she’s added value to this house given where it was. It was at a low ebb.”
Rio started dating Kate, 28, in 2017 and the couple married in a lavish three-day celebration in September last year.
Rio added: “You feel you’ve been dealt a terrible hand, but your luck can change.”
The documentary, Rio and Kate: Becoming a Stepfamily, was announced by the couple last month.
It follows the football pundit’s emotional BAFTA-winning 2017 documentary Rio Ferdinand: Being Mum And Dad, which followed him having to come to terms with losing his wife and being the sole parent to their children.
The new programme sees former TOWIE star Kate integrating into the Ferdinand family and her own struggles at becoming a stepmum. ● Rio and Kate: Becoming A Step Family airs on BBC One at 9pm on Monday February 10.