‘I felt like a terrible mother’
Amy Childs on her struggle with homeschooling and being the most chilled cast member on TOWIE
We’re all doing our best to stay positive through the third lockdown, but Amy Childs summed up how many of us are feeling when she recently opened up about her parenting struggles.
The TOWIE star shared an emotional post telling of her tough time homeschooling daughter Polly, three, while also looking after son Ritchie, two.
Speaking about her meltdown, she said,“I was really low. I was feeling anxious. I was feeling on edge, I felt like a terrible mother. Then, I woke up the following day and I thought, ‘You know what? It was just one of those days.’”
But despite some challenges on the home front, Amy has cause for cheer. Her relationships with Polly’s father Bradley Wright and Ritchie’s dad Ritchie Snr may not have worked out, but the 30-year-old has found love again with businessman boyfriend Tim. And while she remains tight-lipped about him during our chat, she describes him as a “lovely, lovely, gorgeous man”.
Amy shot to fame in TOWIE in 2010, running her beauty salon in hometown Brentwood – but she left in 2011. Now, she tells us about her long-awaited recent return to the hit ITVBe show.
And as she opens up on her lockdown parenting struggles, she reveals she’ll be giving tips to her TOWIE co-stars Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet, who are expecting their first child together…
Hi, Amy! We saw you felt overwhelmed with lockdown in your recent post. Tell us about how you’re doing now…
I’ve been trying to look at everyone’s messages. I had about 5,000! With me, I’m a very calm person. I’ve got Ritchie and Polly, I sit at home and I’m trying to get everything organised and nothing was going right for me. Polly had a bit of a tantrum, she wasn’t doing her homeschooling, and then poor Ritchie wanted me. When the lockdown came in March [last year], I was very overwhelmed. But with this lockdown, I’m missing my family and my friends. I’m normally always out with the kids, or even going for coffee. But this lockdown, I feel like the children are really suffering. I had a bit of a panic. I was just really anxious. So I thought, I’m going to go on Instagram and ask mums,“How are you feeling? How are you?”I was trying to reply back to mums, saying,“Do you know what, mums, you’ve got this, you’re doing an amazing job.” I’m just in a bit of a whirlwind at the minute. I feel a little bit better today. But it’s been hard and I think it’s going to get harder. I feel guilty feeling the way I do sometimes as I know I’m lucky and a lot of people have it so bad right now. But we all have up and down days, and it helped reaching out about it.
Is it important to let other mums know when you struggle?
Definitely.That’s why I had such an amazing response. I think people think,“Oh, Amy’s got a lovely life.” But it’s not. Being a mum is hard for every single mum out there.
So I’m glad I did it because I was really low. I was feeling anxious. I was feeling on edge and I felt like a terrible mother. And then, I woke up the following day and I thought,“You know what? It was just one of those days.”
What’s the hardest thing about being a mum?
Being a mum is actually the most rewarding thing ever. I love being a mother. I’ve always wanted to be a mum, but children are just hard.You’re constantly worried. Polly doesn’t actually need to be at school yet, but I’ve been putting her in her school uniform for homeschooling. I’m not strict, I’m really not, but while I’ve been sitting with her doing her phonics, I thought,“I’m going to put her in her little uniform.”I thought it was such a great idea, even if you only get an hour. Some days are going to be easier than others. But I’m just trying to get Polly into some sort of routine because even if we’re out of lockdown in March, I don’t want us to be out of a routine.
How’s it going with Tim?
We’re very happy and everything is good. He’s a lovely, lovely gorgeous man with a lovely heart.
It’s so exciting that Georgia and Tommy are having their first child together! Did you see it coming?
Yes! Well, I thought something was happening, because she was asking me a lot of questions. Obviously, we talk a lot about Polly as she is in a lot of our TOWIE scenes. She’s just been so interested. I was so shocked when she said she was pregnant because I thought there was going to be an engagement on the cards before the baby. But when I look back, I don’t know how I didn’t know! I’m so happy for them. When TOWIE comes back on, I’ll definitely be doing some scenes with Georgia about the baby because I’m the mum of the group. Obviously, Chloe [Sims] has got [15-year-old] Maddie, but I’ve got Polly, who’s three, and Ritchie, who’s two, so I’m like a young mum. When you watched the baby reveal on TOWIE it was lovely – but to actually be there, it was incredible!
How have you found being back on TOWIE?
I’ve loved being back. It’s been fun and obviously Polly’s on as well. She’s doing really good. At first we struggled because it was me, Mum and Polly and we struggled when we had to put a mic on her. She didn’t really get used to the mic – she’s tried to throw it before! Honestly, she was a little diva at first, but she’s getting used to it more. People love seeing Polly and I went back because I had so many people asking,“Where have you been? What have you been doing?” Polly now loves seeing everyone, so we carried on. If she didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have.
Have you enjoyed catching up with the cast?
Yeah! I’m the mum of the group, everyone knows that with me. I have no dramas, I don’t row with anyone. I’m very humble. They all love Polly and they come and see her on set. I’m like the calm one. I have “no agg”, as they all say on TOWIE. It’s lovely when I’m doing a job I don’t
even class as a job. It’s a job where you see all your friends and get to know a bit of gossip. It’s been hard, obviously, because of Covid-19. We’ve still got to do two-metre distancing and with me, I’m a very kissy person. I love cuddling everyone.
You’ve posted on social media about getting back into fitness. How’s it going?
Really good. Obviously, we can’t go to the gym, so I’m trying to train outside. But it’s hard as I’ve got the children. So I’m doing the best I can. But this time is hard due to the lockdown. I can’t train as much as I want to. I’m doing something fitness-wise next month for busy mums, which I’ve been following, so I can’t wait.
You recently set up your own book club.What inspired you?
I’ve always been interested in reading. I was involved in book clubs at school. Even when I finished school to go into beauty, I was in an adult book club. When I went back on TOWIE, they said,“Come on, Amy, you’ve got the salon…”I thought,“Well, I’ve done the salon and I love it, but I’d like to do something about books.”That’s when I thought I might as well have my own book club. The amount of messages I’ve had on Instagram is amazing. I love it because whatever you read, you go into another world. I’ve been reading lots to Polly. We’ve just finished a book called Grumbalina, which she loved. We’re trying to do an Instagram Live every week of a different book to see if she plays up or loves it, for children, parents and children-time before bed.
Finally, you must have been really sad to learn of Mick Norcross’ death…
I am in total shock. He was the nicest, kindest gentleman you could meet. The family must be devastated, and our family’s heart goes out to them. It’s such a tragic loss and they will feel lost without him, I’m sure. I have some wonderful memories with Mick. He was a brilliant man and will be truly missed.
You can buy Grumbalina And The Day Everything Changed for £5.99 at
‘I’m the mum of the group. I have no dramas, I don’t row with anyone’