Becoming a mum as25 I lost my Dad helped me find my strength
DJ Mollie King on ‘the hardest time of my life’
Mollie King says she never knew how strong she was until she went through two life-changing experiences in the space of just two weeks.
The BBC Radio 1 DJ gave birth to her daughter, Annabella, in November 2022 – then lost her dad, Stephen, to a brain tumour just 10 days later.
She describes it as the hardest she has ever been pushed, but learned a lot about herself at the same time.
Mollie, 36, tells Women’s Health UK: “My dad was the healthiest person I knew. He was really athletic; he’d run three marathons and he was still super strong.
“To then find out half-way through my pregnancy that he had a brain tumour and that we didn’t have long with him was such a shock.
I think [the lesson] is just be kind to yourself; you never know what’s around the corner.
“Also, when you’re really, really pushed – that’s the hardest I’ve ever been pushed, learning to be a mum and then my dad passed away 10 days after the birth of Annabella – I actually think the big thing that I have learned is that we are stronger than we think we are. And I think that we’ve all got it in us to be strong.”
Ex-saturdays singer Mollie is engaged to former England cricketer Stuart Broad, who popped the question on New Year’s
Day in 2021.
The pair first dated in
2012 but called things off in 2013 when their careers took priority. But their relationship then got back on track in 2019 and they have been inseparable since.
A wedding is on the cards soon, with Stuart, 37, saying in December he has more time to plan their big day now since he retired from cricket at the end of the Ashes last year.
Speaking about her journey to motherhood, Mollie says: “I had always thought I would love to be a mum if I’m lucky enough.
“And when Stuart and I started dating, I was like, ‘I know this is it’.
“We’re very similar, but in the ways where we are very different it feels like it’s a really good balance.
“I’m a big overthinker and I can be a little bit of a worrier, whereas Stuart is not an overthinker. Stuart’s like, ‘Right, this is what I’m going to do and this is how I’m going to do it.’
“He’s always telling me that I need to do mind maps when my mind goes into a bit of an anxiety spin. He’s very protective and he’s really good at looking after me.”
The Saturdays performed from 2007-2014, scoring seven Irish Top 10 hits. After they split, Mollie joined Radio 1 in 2018, presenting an afternoon show alongside pal Matt Edmondson.
Mollie, of Wandsworth, South West London, is full of praise for her Gen Z listeners. She said: “I think that with things like mental health, I can really applaud Gen Z in how open they are about speaking about their struggles.
“And I think that’s something we can all learn from…gen Z are really pushing the fact that it’s right to talk about these things and there’s nothing wrong with feeling low, or if you’re having a low day or an anxious day.
“I think what would worry me, I guess, now as a parent, is thinking, what if people
weren’t talking about it? That’s more of a worry.”
In March, Mollie cycled from London to her dad’s home city of Hull for Comic Relief, raising more than €1.5million. On her 311-mile ride, she says: “I lost
my dad just over a year ago, and that was the worst time of my life. I didn’t really have much time to process it.
“I just thought an endurance challenge would give me that time to take it in and to absorb it. And it did. It was amazing.
“In those five days I could actually think about what had gone on and I felt like my dad was really close when I was doing it.”