FRANKIE BRIDGE
FRANKIE BRIDGE TELLS ok!’s KATIE LANGFORDFOSTER ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH AND FAMILY LIFE
There’s no doubt 2020 has been a stressful year to say the least. But Frankie Bridge has found a positive side to being in lockdown. The former Saturdays singer, who has been open about her experiences of anxiety and depression, tells OK! that the slower pace of life we’ve all been forced to adopt has left her mental health in a great place.
“My therapist told me, ‘You’re one of my only clients I’ve not heard from. Everybody else’s anxiety is worse and yours is better,’” she says.
Thankfully, things started to return to some sense of normality just in time for Frankie and her husband Wayne to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary with a romantic weekend at Soho Farmhouse. The couple, who are parents to sons Parker, six, and four-year-old Carter, couldn’t wait to have a lie-in, laughs Frankie!
With Wayne tipped to be getting his skates on for this year’s Dancing On Ice, as a former Strictly Come Dancing runner-up, Frankie would be perfect to offer some tips. But for her latest project, the star has teamed up with Ella’s Kitchen to write eat-along book The Munchy Trunks.
Here, Frankie, 31, talks to OK! about being outnumbered by her boys and why she can’t decide if her family’s complete...
How have you found being at home with Wayne and the kids in lockdown?
At first, I think we all thought it’s quite nice to spend time together. Then it got a bit much. It’s been hard to explain it all to the boys, and it’s a worry because you want everyone to be safe and healthy, but it feels like it’s becoming normal now. That’s amazing and it definitely needs to, but it’s strange. I was so busy just before lockdown. I was travelling all over the place and desperate for a day off at home, so it came at a good time.
How has it affected your mental health?
It’s been good, weirdly. My therapist was laughing at me because I hadn’t spoken to her for ages and when I did, she was like, “You’re one of my only clients I’ve not heard from. Everybody else’s anxiety is worse and yours is better.” A lot of my anxiety is social and so it’s been quite nice that I haven’t had to worry about that. You know where you’re at when you’re not allowed to do anything. Of course there’s the worry of people getting sick and financial stuff for everyone, but every day was the same and my anxiety was okay. It’s more now with things returning to normal and not 100 per cent understanding what you can and can’t do. I’ve found that harder than lockdown itself.
You posted a funny video of the boys taking over the kitchen and demoting you to the playroom.
As a parent, particularly right now, do you think it’s important to pick your battles?
I’m pretty chilled anyway but they were comfortable in there watching stuff and I thought, “Alright then, I’ll go and sit in the toy room!” [Laughs]. But I