We will have to learn how to be parents in the real world after Covid-19
Countdown presenter Rachel Riley tells Lisa salmon about becoming a first-time mum during lockdown
Mathematician and Countdown most likely would have gone to. It’s presenter Rachel Riley been different – we’ll have to learn has loved her first year of to be parents in the real world when being a mum – despite the pandemic things open up again, because we’ve restrictions. only done it in the toned-down,
Rachel, 35, had baby Maven aria in Covid restrictions time.” December 2019, a few months before It can be a worry for parents when the pandemic started, and has toddlers have had such little successfully combined interaction with others motherhood with presenting “She’s really unsocialised,” Countdown laments Rachel. and 8 Out Of 10 Cats “We had one little Does Countdown. friend around in the
In one way, the summer, and it was pandemic has made the first time we’d her busy life a little had anyone here. easier, as it’s meant Whereas when we’re her husband, the out in the street, she dancer Pasha Kovalev loves seeing the other who she met on Strictly little children. When my Come Dancing in 2013, has friend’s daughter was here, she been around a lot more. was so jealous – she took all her toys
“It’s been lovely in a lot of ways,” away and even shoved her away when she says. “all of Pasha’s work has my friend was hugging her own been cancelled... So, when I’ve gone daughter. up to Countdown, he’s been able to “But there’s nothing we can do come with us and he takes Maven about it,” she says stoically. “We just out, and brings her in for a feed, so hope that when things open up it’s been lovely family-wise. again, kids will learn quickly.
“But on the other hand, she’s not They’re malleable, so fingers crossed seen my parents for three months she’s not a little terror when she has and she’s just not socialised with to actually share things. other children at all, because there’s “She’s definitely missed out, but not been the baby groups that we she didn’t know any different, and
She’s definitely missed out, but she didn’t know any different...
she’s had a lot of parental time, which is really important.”
While Maven understandably hasn’t yet learned how to play nicely with other children, she’s clearly a joy with her parents.
“She’s running around now, and she’s in this little phase where she won’t let us sit down for dinner,” says Rachel, fondly. “We put music on during dinner, and if a song comes on that she likes, she shoves us off the chairs and forces us to dance, so every night it’s like ‘OK, we’re not sitting down...’ She definitely keeps us busy!”
But is Maven the little mover a better dancer than her parents yet?
“She’s better than me,” laughs Rachel, who was eliminated from Strictly in week six of the show in 2013. “She’s got my moves so far, rather than Pasha’s. Barry Manilow came on the playlist the other day and she started twirling and twirling. Some songs she doesn’t respond to, and then some – it can be Nineties garage, and she’s like ‘Yeeeah!”’
Rachel is a big Manchester United fan – her dad’s from Salford – and little Maven’s got her own miniature kit. During one match, Rachel was
On parenting Maven in lockdown
thrilled her daughter appeared to be supporting the team.
“Ages ago, we watched the Tottenham game. We scored first and she was sitting there in her little kit, and she started clapping – I was so proud,” remembers Rachel, “And then when Tottenham scored, she clapped again – she loves a good clap!”
Rachel’s love of sport is one of the reasons she’s involved with the new Always Fuel Her Future campaign, to highlight the long-term benefits of girls participating in sport.
“A third of girls are dropping out of sport around puberty, and that’s for a bunch of reasons – 28% said it’s because they don’t think they’re good enough, and 25% said they’re not encouraged enough,” she says.
“This campaign is about highlighting all the benefits of doing sport that you might not think about, like building resilience and confidence, and being vocal. I think you need a lot more resilience than you possibly did when I was younger,” she admits.
Rachel played football, netball and hockey at school, and was in all the teams. She says: “I really enjoyed sport at school – thinking back to my teenage years, some of the girls in my class would be off smoking and drinking, and me and my mates, none of us smoked, we were training, and at lunchtimes or after school, we’d go to the court or to the pitch. We had to look after ourselves, because we wanted to do well in the next tournament or sports meet.”
But playing sport wasn’t an option at Rachel’s girls’ school sixth form, and were it not for collegiate sports at Oxford University, where she played football and was college netball captain, she says she thinks playing sport would have “fallen by the wayside” for her, like it does for so many girls.
“Sport kept me out of trouble and I made lots of friends,” she says. “I found it really valuable – learning the value of practice.”
Rachel says playing sport has even helped her with her role as the maths whizz on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and explains: “When I started playing football, they drilled into us that you have to be vocal. If you wanted the ball, you had to shout ‘Riley’s ball!’
“In 8 Out Of 10 Cats, you’ve got a bunch of professional comedians and if you want to get a word in edgeways, you have to be able to take your chance and speak out, so I credit football for that.”
Rachel Riley has joined forces with Always for the Fuel Her Future campaign, to highlight the long-term benefits of girls participating in sport