Casey: “Isolation can feel suffocating – but we’re bonding with our girls”

She recently welcomed another daughter, and although Casey Batchelor says being cooped up with two children under two is exhausting, the extra family time is all the more special

In the space of eight weeks, Casey Batchelor had a baby, moved house, and then found herself in lockdown like the rest of the country. And while most of us would be feeling the pressure, the mum of two – who is engaged to businessman Dane Goodson – is focused on the positives, insisting she feels very lucky to have completed their dream move to the countryside, pre-isolation.

She says, “We’re living right next to fields of sheep and lambs and we go out to feed the horses every day. We managed to move just before lockdown, so we were really lucky. Our old house was much smaller, so it’s lovely for the girls to have a room each here.

“Dane is at home, too, which is great.

He’s had so much time to bond with Sadie, which he didn’t get with Flo as he had to go back to work soon after she was born. Flo is even more of a daddy’s girl than before!”

NO RESPITE

But despite remaining upbeat, Casey, who is mum to Florence, 23 months, and Sadie, who arrived on 22 January, says it isn’t easy to stay at home with two young children and no extra help.

“Sometimes, I think, ‘How many more times can I watch Frozen or Secret Life Of Pets on repeat?!’ There is no respite – before, I’d have my mum come over twice a week and I could pop out for a coffee, or see a friend, but it’s babies 24/7 now.

“It can feel a bit suffocating being home with the children all day. Sadie is still waking in the night, too, so I don’t even get a break then.”

And while most new mums are able to share those special first weeks with their baby with loved ones, Casey, 35, admits the social distancing has taken its toll.

“I felt a bit low the other day. It suddenly hit me that I hadn’t seen my parents in such a long time, and I can’t just go and see a friend and their kids for playdates. Sadie hasn’t even met some of my friends yet – I was due to take her to Luisa [Zissman]’s house and we were going to meet up with Vicky [Pattison], too. But I’ve been chatting to my mum friends regularly to make up for it – and we did a coffee morning on Zoom, which was fun.”

STAYING STRONG

The star – who shot to fame on Celebrity Big Brother in 2014 – says it’s hard knowing her family are losing out on precious time with Sadie, revealing, “She’s changed so much in the last six weeks and everyone is missing it. My dad has only met her once as he was in Spain when she was born, and Dane’s parents live in Kent so they’ve only seen her a couple of times. It’s a real shame.”

But Casey says she and Dane have been staying strong by sticking to a routine, eating well and exercising. The star dropped 4st after having Florence – going from a size 16 to a size 8.

And while she’s in no rush to get back to her pre-baby figure, she’s adamant she won’t use lockdown as an excuse to over-indulge.

“Dane and I are on a health kick,” she says. “We’ve been buying healthy foods and motivating one another. Monday to Friday, we eat healthy, homecooked food and go on a nice, long daily walk to try to keep some normality. Otherwise it’s easy to find we get stuck in a rut, sitting around not going anywhere and eating rubbish.

“We do slack off at the weekend, though, and have some treats. Most recently, we’ve been helping the girls demolish their Easter eggs, like the great parents we are!”