We will bring up our baby Mabel as gender neutral, says Russell Brand
AS a notorious womaniser and onetime sex addict, Russell Brand insists fatherhood will change him.
But, it seems, he is also determined to change fatherhood.
The 41-year-old actor and comedian was last night celebrating the birth of his first daughter, Mabel, with fiancée Laura Gallacher.
But there will be no flurry of pink to mark the happy event – because the couple plan to bring their daughter up as ‘gender neutral’.
Both mother and baby – who arrived on Saturday – are said to be doing well. A friend of the couple said: ‘Russell is utterly delighted, and both mum and Mabel are healthy, happy and doing extremely well.
‘Russell is obviously pretty bohemian and does not believe in labels. He does not agree with “blue for boys, pink for girls” and there will be no
‘Can wear what she likes’
gender stereotyping at home. Mabel can wear what she likes and play with whatever toys she wants and can make her own decisions on gender when she’s old enough to understand.’
Miss Gallacher, 27-year-old daughter of Scots golf legend Bernard Gallacher and younger sister of sports presenter Kirsty, first dated Brand in 2007. The couple later split up, only to rekindle their romance last year.
In July, the Arthur star, who once spent 0 days in a Philadelphia rehab clinic for sex addiction, confirmed the pregnancy, posting a picture of himself reading a book entitled The Expectant Dad’s Handbook.
He announced the birth on Sunday night during a performance at Nottingham Playhouse, telling the audience he had to get off stage by 9pm because he ‘needed to get down the f ***** g M1 as my girlfriend has just had a baby’.
Since coming to fame in 2004 as host of Channel 4’s Big Brother’s Big Mouth, Brand has found notoriety off-stage as much as on it.
As well as flings with Kate Moss and Jemima Khan, the former drug addict had a short-lived marriage to American singer Katy Perry. In her autobiography, Miss Perry revealed one of the main reasons for their split was her unwillingness to have children.
Speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show earlier this year, Brand, who lives with Miss Gallacher in the Cotswolds, confirmed he did not wish to ‘impose’ a gender on his child.
He said he would ‘let the child grow up and be the whatever the hell it is, never tell it there is such a concept’.