Kate Ferdinand has admitted that moving into her husband Rio’s home was “challenging” because it was plastered with photos of his late wife, Rebecca Ellison.

 

The former TOWIE star, 31, who is currently pregnant with their second child, married the footballer, 44, in 2019 and they welcomed son Cree, two.

 

 

Before their marriage, Rio was already a dad to Lorenz, 16, Tate, 14, and Tia, 12, from his first marriage to Rebecca, who tragically died from breast cancer at the age of 35, in 2015.

 

In 2021, Kate admitted that she cried in secret while learning to be a stepmother. She’s now opened up about their blended family in more detail.

 

She wrote in her new book, How To Build A Family: ‘In the beginning I found it really difficult because I felt as though I was coming into this already-made family with this already-made life and I was kind of an the outskirts.

‘It felt like I was walking through someone else’s life. As you walk into our home, there’s a spiralling staircase and, when I first moved in, behind it was a wall full of photos.

‘Arranged as a family tee, it cascaded down from Rio’s and Rebecca’s grandparents all the way to the children. You could see this beautiful family from the minute you walked in.’

 

It comes after the reality star recalled being mistaken for her husband Rio’s late wife Rebecca as she discussed their early relationship.

 

Kate admitted she ‘felt like a side chick’ when they first began dating in 2017.

 

Speaking on her Blended podcast, Kate and Rio spoke of her difficulties when everyone would mention Rebecca when the footballer spoke of his wife.

 

She explained: ‘I’m secure but what used to happen is I was dating you, we might have been engaged but I wasn’t your wife. So whenever you talk about your wife everyone would say Rebecca.’

 

Recalling how a famous person called her Rebecca recently, Kate said she ‘felt like a side chick’ at the start of their relationship.

 

She added: ‘I kind of felt like I was this side woman, I felt like a bloody good side chick looking after your three kids. Everyone was saying your wife, your wife, your wife.

‘Now I am your wife, I feel very secure and yeah the wedding changed a lot for me so I can deal with things like now.’

 

The TV personality and the footballer married during an extravagant wedding ceremony in Turkey in 2019, after two years of dating.