Angels are ALWAYS with you. A special one looks over me on The Voice
Heavily pregnant Voice of Ireland hopeful Helena Bradley Bates says that her late mother is watching over her as she performs – in celestial form
GOING up against a host of other contestants in a nationwide talent show on live TV while heavily pregnant might prove a daunting prospect for most of us – but it helps when you’ve got the angels on your side.
And Helena Bradley Bates, who is preparing to compete in the semi-finals of The Voice Of Ireland two weeks before her due date, is not only buoyed by her belief in angels, but by an adoring partner, Neil Kinsella. Like Helena herself, he is a medium.
This will be their second child together.
‘I’m due on May 4 and, please God, everything will go well,’ she says, rubbing her bulging tummy, as Neil provides reassurance and a cup of tea.
Helena, 41, from Wellingtonbridge in Wexford, has three older children, Dean, 18, Ayla, 16, and Callum, 13, from a previous relationship.
‘It is like two different families really,’ she says with a smile.
‘But we said we are not getting any younger and if we are going to have two it is better to have them together.’
Ordhan, Neil and Helena’s first child together, is 15 months old.
‘People said that I was nuts,’ is Helena’s frank reaction to questions about becoming pregnant at 41. ‘Of course I was worried about the pregnancy. All you hope is that the baby is going to be OK. I know age is a factor. But Ordhan was fine and he was nine pounds. So everything is positive. The doctors reckon I am heading towards the 10-pound mark and it actually feels, when I’m walking, like my legs are going to break.’
As she answers each question her eyes search for Neil across the table as if she is seeking approval. It’s clear that the pair are madly in love.
They first met when they were both 14, and became childhood sweethearts. But over the years, life separated them and Helena married another. But 16 years and three children later, Helena realised that relationship was doomed.
‘You go about believing that your life is mapped out in a certain way but then sometimes it is not the right choice for you,’ she says.
‘I have three beautiful children from that relationship, it is just that sometimes people need to go in different directions. The time came for change.
‘It wasn’t an easy decision because he was a nice person. But we both couldn’t stay in a marriage that was bringing us down. Then one day one of the kids turned around and said to me, “Look, if it’s not working and you’re not happy, then what’s the point?” To hear that from your child is amazing and is very mature.’
After the separation, fate stepped in for Helena as she crossed paths with her first love, Neil. She hasn’t looked back since.
‘Some time later I met up with Neil, and it was great,’ she says.
Meeting him as an adult, the feelings she had for him as a teenager returned and were as strong as ever.
‘It is strange how things work out. It was a wonderful surprise that there was something better out there for me. Not just for me, but my ex-partner can get on with his life.’
While a marriage break-up and late pregnancy would shake most people, for Helena, it is simply a blessing. She has a strong spiritual outlook on life, and is adamant that the angels are looking down on her – among them being her late mother Margo, who passed away just five days before she auditioned for The Voice Of Ireland.
‘I believe that your angels are always with you and it is just a matter of chatting to them.’
Helena, who is not conventionally religious, is convinced that anyone can be helped by talking to angels.
‘I am not a kneeling-down-praying person. Angels are angels, and you don’t have to communicate with them through a Bible or church. You can speak to them like anyone else and they are out there to offer help to anyone who asks for it.
‘I have one special angel, my mother, and I know for a fact that she will be there. I’m hoping she will keep me going all the way to the final. I feel her energy keeping me going. I think she is filling my lungs with oxygen and kicking me up the backside and willing me on – and that is a real boost.’
Neil, who holds similar beliefs about angels, nods his head in agreement with his partner. Both he and Helena describe themselves as mediums.
She describes how their slightly different psychic abilities complement each other – perhaps another sign of how well matched the couple are.
‘People come to me in pictures and I feel them, whereas Neil sees people. That’s another thing we have in common, which at the beginning was scary.
‘And he would see someone and I could sense them and actually describe the same person. It happens all the time now but we just get on with it as normal. I think it is a gift because I don’t have any bad experiences – I love it. With the contestants I have come out with a few little bits with one or two of them. I frightened the life out of Patrick Donoghue.’
On Sunday night, Helena will once again attempt to defy the odds and make it through to the series finale. Half of the eight hopefuls will be axed and she is at the mercy of the public vote.
Although she will be performing while 38 weeks pregnant, Helena insists that the baby
‘Of course age is a factor in pregnancy. But my last baby was fine’ ‘You don’t need church to get through to angels. You just talk to them’
will not be used as an excuse to gain a public sympathy vote.
She also feels her son is quite happy with all the movement involved in her performances during the talent show.
‘He is moving like mad, especially when I am on stage singing. He dances as well, he will probably come out singing.
‘In fact when he does arrive he won’t know what’s going on because it will be so quiet.’
And she is the first to admit that appearing on stage so late in a pregnancy is a gruelling business.
‘I am trying my best, but he is a big baby. [The song] is one minute and a half and I feel I have enough energy to keep it up, but it is exhausting.’
While those at home will see the singer belting out her favourite rock songs on stage, what they won’t see is the now permanent fixture of a pair of paramedics at the side of the stage in case the baby decides to make an early appearance.
‘I should have a contingency plan if my waters go on stage. I am very disorganised this time. I went out the other day and bought a pack of nappies with the intention of packing a bag. I couldn’t even think of what I need. But I just figure that whenever it happens we can just make do.
‘On Thursday I got out the small baby clothes from the attic and Neil’s sister took them off me and washed them for me. I don’t even have time to do that.’
It is impossible not to warm to the singer and her bump as she speaks passionately about her musical career. But one thing is for sure, she is in this competition to win it and would love to go further than Kelly Mongan who lost out in the Voice finals two years ago. Mongan gave birth to a baby boy just days after the 2013 finals.
‘Kelly did so well but it would be lovely to go that one step closer. I have to admit that every week you just want to make it to the next level. But now the final is in reach and, yeah, I would love to go on and win it,’ says Helena.
‘I have been about for a long time trying to work in music,’ she adds.
‘I simply lacked confidence. When I got together with Neil, I started moving on it.’
Helena first entered the blind auditions for the Voice of Ireland two years ago, but felt the song she chose back then was the wrong one for her.
‘We came back again this year and gave it another shot – and I am not getting any younger so this really was my last chance. I went in all guns blazing. So I got through one round then the next one and my confidence just grew.
In addition to support from Neil, Helena’s coach Kian Egan has been providing her with valuable musical mentorship – as well as useful chats about parenthood.
Kian’s wife, former Hollyoaks star Jodi Albert, is due to give birth to their second child in four weeks’ time. And according to Helena, her chinwags with the Westlife star have been a welcome distraction.
‘Kian has been amazing,’ she says. ‘He always makes sure I am not overdoing it, but most of the time we just talk about the pregnancy and about how Jodi is doing.
‘And that is nice because it takes the pressure off and normalises things.’
Above all, Helena just wants to be able to share her lifelong passion for singing.
‘It would be lovely to be recognised for all the hard work I put in over the years and the love I have for music. And, of course, the album deal would be the icing on the cake,’ she adds.
If her son can just hold on for another two weeks then everything is possible.
The Voice Of Ireland is on RTÉ One at 6.30pm on Sundays
Paramedics wait by the stage in case the baby decides to appear