The Mummy Diaries STAR BILLIE FAIERS AND HER DAUGHTER NELLY ENJOY A FUN-FILLED TEA PARTY
BILLIE FAIERS TELLS OK!’S EMILY WHITWAM ABOUT FIVE-YEAR-OLD NELLY’S FUN-FILLED AFTERNOON TEA PARTY
When OK! joins The Mummy Diaries stars Billie Faiers and her daughter Nelly for a catch-up, they’re heading back to their Essex home following a very exciting day. Anyone who has seen five-year-old Nelly on her mum’s ITVBE reality show will know she’s no shrinking violet. Sure enough, at the mere mention of her name Nelly abruptly pauses from her ipad activity and pipes up: ‘Hey, I can hear you!’
Last month, former TOWIE star Billie, 29, threw a circus-themed birthday bash for her daughter that could rival any of the Kardashians’ efforts, and Nelly joyfully tells us: ‘It was a blast!’
‘We had to put a stop to any crazy requests,’ Billie explains. ‘At one point Nelly asked: “Can we just get some elephants?!”’
The mother-daughter duo evidently have more than just their golden locks in common. With a little help from her mum, Nelly recently did some party planning of her own and invited five of her best school friends to a
tea party. The occasion? To celebrate the launch of the latest Baby Annabell doll!
‘We played story-telling and pass the parcel,’ an excited Nelly tells us after her big day.
It’s been a big year for Billie and her husband Greg Shepherd, who are also parents to two-year-old Arthur, as their lavish Maldives wedding was covered exclusively by OK! back in May.
Here, Billie, who kept her maiden name for work purposes, tells us about leaving her TOWIE days behind, suffering from wedding anxiety and working out on holiday...
Everyone loves Nelly’s one-liners. What are your personal favourites?
One of the funniest was when she told me: ‘I don’t make tea, I only make coffee!’ That really made me laugh. Oh, and when she told baby Paul [Billie’s nephew]: ‘You’ll scare the squirrels!’ That was hilarious. She’s just so random. She’ll go up to someone and say: ‘My mum loves prosseco and sauvignon blanc!’ [Laughs] I talk in code around her now because she picks up on everything. Would you like Nelly and Arthur to carry on down the TV route? Everyone always tells me: ‘Nelly’s going to do something on TV.’ But I just want to wait and see what happens. I’ll be supportive of whatever they want to do, whether it’s working in a restaurant or being on TV.
How is Arthur getting on?
He’s out of that baby stage now – he’s a fullblown toddler – and he’s talking loads. He’s really funny but really different to Nelly. He’s more determined and will do his own thing. Nelly has always wanted to be involved in everything. Arthur’s more laid-back.
How’s married life treating you?
Good! Everyone keeps asking me how we’ve changed, but I feel like we’re still the same. It’s so lovely having the same surname now;
it’s like the final piece to the puzzle. I was really anxious on my wedding day because there was so much anticipation leading up to the ceremony, which was held in the evening. But when I got to the aisle I felt great.
You and Greg have both kept up your fitness since the wedding…
We did it for the wedding and we noticed such a big difference, not just in the way we looked but we felt better too. It’s given us the motivation to keep it up. When we’re away, we’ll be taking our gym gear.
Greg’s doing the London Marathon in aid of Haven House next April. Has he started training yet?
No, he’s starting in October. It’s a huge life challenge and such a big commitment, with a lot of pressure. I don’t know if it’s for me. I love team sports and challenges but I don’t enjoy running.
Do you and Greg get competitive with each other?
Sometimes, but in a good way. We prefer to train separately. I can’t take Greg seriously [laughs]! But Sam and I want to start training together once a week.
Do you enjoy changing up your hair? Yeah, I’ve just had it cut really short – the shortest I’ve had it for a long time. I fancied a bit of a change. I feel like short hair suits me the best.
What do you think when you look back at your early appearances on TOWIE?
Oh God [laughs]! At the time you think you look great, don’t you?! I do look back at photos and think, look at my tan, look at my hair, look at my make-up and my eyelashes – it’s all too much [laughs]. But in ten years’ time, I might look back on the way I look now and think, what were you doing?!
How was Nelly’s fifth birthday party? She really wanted to get involved. At this age it’s good to let them have some involvement, but at one point, when she asked if we could get some elephants, I was like, farm animals will do [laughs]! One of the horses stepped on her toe. It was only a baby, but it was heavy.
Ouch! Will her parties get more extravagant by the year?
I’m not sure if I can top the last one but she says she wants a pony party next year.
How did you feel about Nelly finishing her first year at school?
When I read her school report, I got a bit emotional. She was the youngest in the year and she’s done so well. Her teacher said it’s been a real pleasure teaching her. I do feel really proud of her.
How did Nelly’s Baby Annabell tea party go? Amazing! I love planning parties and I think she’ll be the same. Nelly asked me to check the invitation nearly every night. She chose the colour theme and we visited the location together. It was everything Nelly loves. She decided there had to be a birthday cake too. We invited five of her school friends and she was so excited. It went down really well.
Does she like playing mummy?
Yeah, over the past two years, Nelly’s really got into role play. I really encourage it because I used to do it with Samantha when we were little. We’ve got a Baby Annabell Alexander doll for Arthur as well. He’s into his cars, but if he wants to be involved in what Nelly wants to play with, I’ll always encourage that.
Why have you partnered up with Baby Annabell?
Since Nelly’s been able to play with toys, Baby Annabell has always been her favourite. The new interactive dolls have all the characteristics of a real baby. They cry and you can burp them! Nelly is so nurturing. She loves to ‘baby’ her cousin Rosie, and it’s similar with Baby Annabell because she can really interact with it.