{"id":21304,"date":"2026-07-29T20:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21304"},"modified":"2026-07-29T20:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:55:08","slug":"rio-ferdinand-47-says-he-didnt-want-another-relationship-let-alone-more-kids-when-he-met-wife-kate-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21304","title":{"rendered":"Rio Ferdinand, 47, says he &#8216;didn&#8217;t want another relationship let alone more kids&#8217; when he met wife Kate, 35"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/sport\/rio-ferdinand\/index.html\" id=\"mol-6f044c70-8b60-11f1-8944-f32bfd8cbb49\" class=\"\">Rio Ferdinand<\/a> has said that he &#8216;didn&#8217;t want another relationship let alone more kids&#8217; when he met his wife Kate but was in love with her so &#8216;went ahead with it&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The ex footballer, 47, and the former <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/tvshowbiz\/towie\/index.html\" id=\"mol-6eff6a70-8b60-11f1-8944-f32bfd8cbb49\">TOWIE<\/a> star, 35, are co-parents to Tate, 17, Lorenz, 20, and Tia, 15, from Rio&#8217;s marriage to his late wife Rebecca and are also parents to daughter Shae, two, and son Cree, five, together.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In a new episode of Kate&#8217;s Blended podcast they spoke about when they first met in late 2016 and Rio realised they may initially have wanted different things.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Kate said to him: &#8216;When I met you, you didn&#8217;t want any more children did you?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Rio then replied:\u00a0&#8216;I&#8217;d made my mind up. When I met you I had three kids, didn&#8217;t even want a relationship let alone kids.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;But you then adapt to the circumstances, and so okay, yeah, we&#8217;re now seeing each other, we&#8217;re in love.<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-d6b76aaadef73f75\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/29\/16\/110324979-16014017-image-a-26_1785338844107.jpg\" height=\"537\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Rio Ferdinand has said that he 'didn't want another relationship let alone more kids' when he met his wife Kate but was in love with her so 'went ahead with it'\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Rio Ferdinand has said that he &#8216;didn&#8217;t want another relationship let alone more kids&#8217; when he met his wife Kate but was in love with her so &#8216;went ahead with it&#8217;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-d99068c74b573900\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/29\/16\/110324975-16014017-image-a-25_1785338835901.jpg\" height=\"848\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The pair are co-parents to Tate, 17, Lorenz, 20, and Tia, 15, from Rio's marriage to his late wife Rebecca and are also parents to daughter Shae, two, and son Cree, five, together\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The pair are co-parents to Tate, 17, Lorenz, 20, and Tia, 15, from Rio&#8217;s marriage to his late wife Rebecca and are also parents to daughter Shae, two, and son Cree, five, together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;You are young, you want kids, your own kids as well, biologically. And then I was like, well, I don&#8217;t really want kids, but I love her, so I&#8217;ve just got to go ahead with it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;And I wouldn&#8217;t change it. Something that drives you to making that decision and changing your mind is that look at what she&#8217;s putting herself through for me and the kids, and I&#8217;m gonna go. I can&#8217;t. Nah. I can&#8217;t. I couldn&#8217;t do that.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Rio then went on to discuss how Kate was difficult to be with when she was pregnant, saying she &#8216;turned into a different person&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">He said: &#8216;You turn into a different human being, and I&#8217;m not saying it&#8217;s wrong. And right, so you&#8217;ve got a human being inside you.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;But I&#8217;m saying what I didn&#8217;t like was the person you became for that period of time. Everything&#8217;s a problem. Everything&#8217;s an overreaction. Everything&#8217;s like heightened&#8230;.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Kate then admitted: &#8216;I didn&#8217;t like being pregnant. I just didn&#8217;t. I felt like I didn&#8217;t recognize myself.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It comes after earlier this month Rio\u00a0reunited with his wife Kate and their children after &#8216;a very long six weeks apart&#8217; in an emotional Instagram video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The former England footballer had been working in the US for the World Cup, leaving Kate to hold down the fort at home in <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/news\/dubai\/index.html\" id=\"mol-672491b0-860e-11f1-a9de-2d6217b6c6f8\" class=\"\">Dubai<\/a>\u00a0with their brood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In a sweet clip the family were seen reuniting as Rio&#8217;s taxi dropped him off at home as his children ran to hug him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Youngest son Cree said: &#8216;Daddy!! I&#8217;ve got my daddy here,&#8217; as he ran and jumped into Rio&#8217;s arms alongside sister Shae.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Tia, who was dressed in a swimming costume and skirt, was also seen hugging her dad before Kate finally got a kiss and hug from her husband.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In a second emotional clip, Kate, who stunned in a white and black polka dot bikini, hugged Rio as he lovingly kissed her head.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-ce745dc71c2b02f8\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/29\/16\/110324989-16014017-image-a-22_1785338783994.jpg\" height=\"373\" width=\"634\" alt=\"In a new episode of Kate's Blended podcast they spoke about when they first met in 2016 and Rio realised they may initially have wanted different things\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">In a new episode of Kate&#8217;s Blended podcast they spoke about when they first met in 2016 and Rio realised they may initially have wanted different things<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-6fa25c1c6c2294b5\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/29\/16\/110324987-16014017-image-a-23_1785338788364.jpg\" height=\"386\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Kate said: 'When I met you, you didn't want any more children did you?'\u00a0Rio replied: 'I'd made my mind up. When I met you I had three kids, didn't even want a relationship let alone kids'\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Kate said: &#8216;When I met you, you didn&#8217;t want any more children did you?&#8217;\u00a0Rio replied: &#8216;I&#8217;d made my mind up. When I met you I had three kids, didn&#8217;t even want a relationship let alone kids&#8217;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-e4504941657f236b\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/29\/16\/109563071-16014017-Rebecca_and_Rio_are_pictured_in_2009-a-27_1785338866311.jpg\" height=\"967\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Kate and Rio began dating in 2017, two years after the death of his wife Rebecca who tragically died aged 34 in 2015\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Kate and Rio began dating in 2017, two years after the death of his wife Rebecca who tragically died aged 34 in 2015\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-30f1131f39bb3c56\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/29\/16\/110193739-16014017-Rio_Ferdinand_reunited_with_his_wife_Kate_and_their_children_aft-a-28_1785338868303.jpg\" height=\"1112\" width=\"634\" alt=\"It comes after earlier this month Rio reunited with his wife Kate and their children after 'a very long six weeks apart' in an emotional Instagram video\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">It comes after earlier this month Rio reunited with his wife Kate and their children after &#8216;a very long six weeks apart&#8217; in an emotional Instagram video\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">She wrote: &#8221;I&#8217;ve got my dad here&#8217;. A very long six weeks without our @rioferdy5, we&#8217;ve all missed him so much. Couldn&#8217;t be happier to have him home.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It came after <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/tvshowbiz\/article-15954331\/Kate-Ferdinand-solo-parenting-Rio-works-World-Cup.html\">Kate confessed she was &#8216;trying to hold it together&#8217; as she shared a glimpse at her solo parenting <\/a>while husband Rio was away at the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In a post on Instagram, Kate revealed the challenges of juggling her busy work schedule with looking after her family, even sharing a countdown chart they&#8217;d put together in anticipation of &#8216;Daddy&#8217;s return&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Kate also shared a clip of herself working out in the gym, and snaps of her children enjoying some arts and crafts, and watching England.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">She captioned the post: &#8216;Daddy&#8217;s been gone for 4 weeks, mummy&#8217;s trying to hold it together.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">While listing details about each of her snaps, she also admitted she hadn&#8217;t been &#8216;consistent&#8217; with her gym regime, but was trying to squeeze in time to exercise &#8216;when she could&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Behind the scenes, Kate has been navigating her strained relationship with Rio&#8217;s children for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In a candid interview recently, Tate discussed the turbulent relationship he had with Kate when she first moved into the family home and how his father Rio would get &#8216;mad&#8217;, as he discussed his childhood &#8216;trauma&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Kate and Rio began dating in 2017, two years after the death of his wife Rebecca who tragically died aged 34 in 2015.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">She moved into the family home with Rio in 2018, and married a year later.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Kate has been open about the immense challenges she has faced with her stepchildren ever since she took on the &#8216;difficult&#8217; role of step-parent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">She created the Blended podcast in a bid to support fellow parents navigating the complex and isolating reality of building a blended family unit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rio Ferdinand has said that he &#8216;didn&#8217;t want another relationship let alone more kids&#8217; when he met his wife Kate but was in love with her so &#8216;went ahead with it&#8217;. The ex footballer, 47, and the former TOWIE star, 35, are co-parents to Tate, 17, Lorenz, 20, and Tia, 15, from Rio&#8217;s marriage to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/29\/16\/110324979-16014017-image-a-26_1785338844107.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}