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THEY have been credited with transforming this year’s X Factor judging panel – while juggling a new baby, two young children and households on both sides of the Atlantic.
On top of that, Ayda Field has been the driving force behind keeping husband Robbie Williams, who has battled alcohol and substance abuse, on the straight and narrow.
But it is Ayda’s mother Gwen Field, a film director, who has been a vital cog in the chaotic life of her showbiz family.
From nannies, a yoga instructor, dog sitters and even a personal spray-tan technician, 68-year-old Gwen is there to manage them all.
A source close to the family says: “Gwen manages the staff in both households, while keeping a toe dipped into the film industry and holding down lifelong friendships with a tiny circle in LA. She does everything for Robbie and Ayda. Nothing is ever too much and without her there, lives would fall apart.”
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Earlier this month, Robbie and Ayda, 39, announced they had welcomed baby Coco to their family, who had been born via a surrogate.
A source said: “Having Coco has been life-changing, and Gwen has been with them all the way. She is their rock.”
Robbie, 44, recently announced he is planning a fly-onthe-wall reality TV series with Ayda and her mum, who they affectionately call Nana Gwen.
Gwen spends most of her time looking after the couple’s children, daughter Teddy, five, and son Charlton, three – and now Coco. She is also a regular on Robbie and Ayda’s social media channels.
And she even accompanies them on their holidays.
In 2016, Ayda posted an image of herself lying in bed between Robbie and her mum.
Speaking about Robbie’s special relationship with Gwen, Ayda once said: “Rob loves my mum, I think the most in the whole world. They are two peas in a pod and I’m the one on the outside. It makes me even more in love with my husband and with my mum, because she can be bonkers and unconventional and it can be embraced.”
Ayda shot to fame in the US at just 21, when she starred in American soap Days Of Our Lives. Meanwhile, Gwen directed movies such as 1988’s Patti Rocks and 2015’s Don’t Wake Mommy. But