On Blended today we have a very special guest, Alex Willumsen who’s story is one that so many people have been in touch about, and that’s being a childless stepmum.Alex Willumsen is a parent/step-parent of 11 years to two boys down in Brighton. We hear all about Alex's step parenting journey but also about her and her husband’s attempts to grow their family themselves. Alex is an amazing women and she feels that being a childless step mum is a unique and often overlooked experience and because o...
Dec 14, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 17
It’s nearly Christmas, a time filled with joy and excitement, but also a time that can be difficult for anyone dealing with the absence of a loved one. A few weeks ago, I reached out to you on the Blended socials and asked if you had any questions around Christmas. We were inundated with your questions, so I decided to host a short series of minisodes to offer advice to anyone struggling at this time of year. Ann has worked in bereavement for over 30 years and is the CEO of Child Bereavement UK,...
Dec 12, 2022•20 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Today’s guest on Blended is comedian, actor, writer and I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star, Babatunde Aléshé. Baba joins me to talk about life growing up in a single parent home, and how his childhood was one of his biggest drivers in shaping his own parenting style. Baba’s Nigerian heritage and religion comes up too as it was a big pillar in his life overall which prompts a conversation about how to blend cultures in the family home. We also talk about strictness in the home which we h...
Dec 07, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 15
It’s nearly Christmas, a time which can bring so much excitement but also so much stress, especially if you’re part of a blended family. I reached out to you on the Blended socials and asked if you had any questions around Christmas: Be that grief, how to share the kids or anything else that’s causing you stress, and we were inundated with your questions. Today we welcome Professor Lisa Doodson back to Blended. She's an author and psychologist specialising in step-family dynamics. Today she answ...
Dec 05, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Today on Blended I’m joined by star of Teen Mom UK, Chloe Patton. We had such a lovely chat about Chloe finding out she was pregnant at just 16 years old, starting a family as a teen, navigating rocky times with her partner Jordan and also being a part of a beautiful blended family. Chloe's faced some really hard times along the way which were played out on the TV - going through postnatal depression and losing her nan and grandad - but has been so amazing in dealing with it all. Her outlook on ...
Nov 30, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Today on Blended, I’m chatting to the phenomenal Brian Dowling - the Irish TV presenter who rose to fame after winning Big Brother in 2001 and Ultimate Big Brother in 2010. Brian has a beautiful new baby girl Blake with his husband Arthur and their journey to welcoming her to the world is a fascinating one. Brian’s sister Aoife was their surrogate - and Brian talks us through all of the expected, and unexpected highs and lows of surrogacy with your sister. This is such an entertaining but also i...
Nov 23, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Today on Blended, I’m chatting to the Amazing Fearne Cotton. Fearne is a well-known broadcaster, presenter, and host of the wildly popular podcast ‘Happy Place’. Today though, we are talking about Fearne’s role as a Mum. We talk about the huge shift that occurs when you become a parent, step or otherwise and how confidence really does come in waves, especially with being a step-parent. Fearne openly shares her thoughts on imposter syndrome, parenting and mental health and gives some great advice...
Nov 16, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Today on Blended we are joined by TV and sports presenter Lynsey Hipgrave. Lynsey’s blended journey began when she met her now husband Dan Hipgrave 16 years ago who already had a daughter from his previous marriage. Together we spoke about what it’s like coming into a blended family, the transition between part-time and full time parenting. We discuss the importance of creating stability and having good communication with both of the parents as well as how to shelter children from tabloid media ...
Nov 09, 2022•34 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Today on Blended we have the wonderful Jimmy Akingbola. Jimmy is an actor and producer that currently plays the iconic Geoffery in the new rendition of The Fresh Prince, ‘Bel-Air’. Now living in the bright lights of Los Angeles, Jimmy returns home to the UK to reflect on how his upbringing shaped him in a moving documentary called ‘Handle with Care’. Jimmy takes us on an uplifting journey through his own experience as a child raised by parents of different ethnicities in foster care, how he proc...
Nov 02, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Today’s guest on Blended is the wonderful Bodé Aboderinor as some people know him, Papa B! Bodé has recently written a book on fatherhood, called Fatherhood, that literally discusses what it means to be a father today. Bodé has a blended family himself but in today’s episode Kate hones in on the big topics, covering everything from Fatherhood and masculinity - and for parents who don't live with their children from a previous relationship, how to blend with new siblings and also how to keep that...
Oct 26, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 8
*Trigger warning: This episode involves stories of domestic violence and physical abuse.* Today on blended we're talking about something that too often gets brushed under the carpet: domestic abuse. Today's guest Phoenix Brown who has been incredibly brave talking about her experience of growing up around emotional and physical abuse. She opens up about the abusive relationship her mom was in when she was young, the effect it had on her and about how great it felt when they got out. It's somethi...
Oct 19, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Today on Blended we are talking to 3 incredible women, Carina White, Natalie Duvall, and Nana-Adwoa Mbeutcha - who, as you’ll hear between them, each have their own different experience of Blended Families. Today’s topic in question is the Black Motherhood experience here in the UK. While this might be a bit different to what you’re used to on Blended, I found this conversation to be really powerful. A lot of us are nervous to have conversations that touch on race (me included!) but it is so imp...
Oct 12, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Its baby loss awareness week, and as I'm sure most of you know, this is really close to my heart. At the start of this season I had a special sit down with Zoe Clarke Coates, where she opened up about baby loss, miscarriage, and pregnancy after loss. Zoe gave lots of amazing advice and support and today we have some bonus advice that Zoe has kindly shared for us all. Hopefully it will help you and yours to not feel alone, if this week is particularly difficult If you are struggling this week, pl...
Oct 10, 2022•9 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Robyn Donaldson is an award-winning interior designer, writer and social media influencer. In today’s episode, Robyn opens up about her experiences with family estrangement - specifically from her mother because of the unhealthy and unhappy relationship they had growing up. In this candid conversation, Robyn shares a very unfiltered picture of her estranged reality, and how she came to cut ties with her mother completely. But she also talks of the love for her grandmother, who took on a maternal...
Oct 05, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Today on Blended we have a really special story to share - one of resilience, displacement through war, love and powerful solo parenting. You might know Ellie Prohan as the Queen of all things Hip Hop. She’s a hugely popular club DJ and regular collaborator with both Apple Music and Gay Times. Joining Ellie today is her amazing Mum Sonia - who as you’ll hear - with her girls, had to flee war in the Middle East and seek asylum in England. Ellie and Sonia have supported each other through so much ...
Sep 28, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 3
On today’s episode of Blended, Kate speaks with best selling author and grief counsellor Zoe Clark-Coates all about how her husband Andy experienced the devastating loss of five babies. A true believer that ‘everything you go through, good or bad, can be used for the positive’ Zoe founded The Mariposa Trust, a charity that helps anyone that is going through baby loss, and wrote the best-selling debut books ‘Saying Goodbye’ The Baby loss Guide’ ‘Beyond Goodbye’ and ‘Pregnancy After Loss’. In June...
Sep 21, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Welcome back to Blended. As you may have seen on my socials, I recently had a miscarriage... and while we have a full new season of Blended coming up for you, I thought it's only right to share just a little bit more around this, about what happened and how I'm feeling, so here I am. This podcast is about being open, about helping others and about sharing - and to me it's just really important to share my struggles and talk to you guys in the hope that it could just help one person.
Sep 21, 2022•12 min•Season 2Ep. 1
On today’s episode of Blended, Kate speaks to Krept (best know as one of half Krept & Konan) and Sasha Ellesse (beauty and fashion influencer), who share the uplifting story of their co-parenting relationship today for the first time. As well as being co-parents to their gorgeous 2 year old baby girl Nala - the pair are (this week!) launching Nala's Baby, their new children's skincare brand together. We hear how they Juggle parenthood and running a business together, as well as advice for an...
Jun 21, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Trigger warning: This episode covers loss of pregnancy, struggles with fertility and death of loved ones. Today on Blended, Kate shares the stories of those whose Father’s Day might look a little different. She hears from brave and wonderful contributors who offer their experiences, as well as getting some advice for anyone struggling to navigate the day from experts. This is a helping hand to help you feel less alone when it all feels too hard to cope with and in listening to other stories, Kat...
Jun 15, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Today on Blended, Kate welcomes author, psychologist, mediator, and (step) mother Professor Lisa Doodson. Lisa is the founder of Happy Steps, the UK's only research based stepfamily resource centre, she was also one of the amazing people that helped bring the Ferdinand’s documentary about stepfamilies to life. As part of a stepfamily herself, Lisa's well versed in the often challenging path to happy step parenting, she speaks honestly about how the early experience can often feel like failure or...
Jun 08, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 11
On today’s episode of Blended, Kate speaks to Steve Bland, presenter of the BBC Radio 5 Live podcast ‘You, Me & The Big C’. Steve tragically lost his wife Rachael Bland to breast cancer in 2018, leaving him a widow and a single parent to their two-year-old son Freddie. Steve and Kate approached some of the many nuances and challenges from different sides of the same coin: How do you introduce a new parental figure to the children? How do you keep your loved ones' memory alive? And how do you...
Jun 01, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Today's guest is Marvyn Harrison - father, entrepreneur, and host of the award-winning podcast Dope Black Dads which creates a safe space for fathers who wish to discuss their experiences of parenthood, being black and masculinity in the modern world. What began as a WhatsApp group has blossomed into a space that emboldens dads to lean into their parenting experience and provides a supportive hand in navigating the many complicated areas of raising children, especially the unique ones presented ...
May 25, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 10
You may know the much-loved TV personality Debbie Bright from The Only Way Is Essex, but over 200 children around the UK have known Debbie as their foster carer. Debbie is such a kind and caring soul who has impacted so many young lives and in today’s episode, Debbie talks frankly about the highs, lows, rewarding and challenging moments of fostering. How do you set up to receive a new foster child? How do you ensure that your biological and foster children are happy? How to even start with the g...
May 18, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 9
How do you deal with one of your parents starting a new family? Today's guest is the presenter and businesswoman Rochelle Humes who had to tackle this very question when she discovered later in life that she had siblings through her estranged Dad. Rochelle challenges the ‘half’ labels for her siblings and talks fondly of the roles ‘aunties’ have played both in her family and wider in black communities to prove you can choose who you see as your family. Kate and Rochelle also talk about what they...
May 11, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Today on Blended we are talking about motherhood in all its beautifully messy glory with the wonderful television personality and former Loose Women panelist Saira Khan. Saira talks about how she came to be in a blended family including the moment she met her little girl who she adopted from Pakistan when she was just four days old. As you’ll hear in today’s episode, the adoption process isn’t simple but Saira's openness, optimism and warmth on the subject show that adoption can be such a joyous...
May 04, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Stepmothers seem to have an unfairly bad reputation, when the reality is that it takes a really strong person to be a stepparent. You have to be pretty resilient to fit into an already formed family unit! It isn't always easy, but it's often filled with a new love that you just can't explain. Here to share their story on today's episode of Blended are stepmother-daughter-duo Kim and Amelia. Having now been in a blended family for 19 years, Kim and Amelia talk so openly about the realities of bec...
Apr 27, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Losing a parent as a teenager is unthinkable, let alone when it's followed by the death of a beloved sister just over two years later. This has been the devastating reality for today’s guest: author and entrepreneur Lottie Tomlinson. After her mum and sister passed away, Lottie felt she had to put on a brave face and step up for her younger siblings, but this led to her losing control of her emotions. In today's episode, Lottie tells Kate how therapy has created an outlet for these emotions, and...
Apr 20, 2022•21 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Joining Kate on Blended this week is Ashley John-Baptiste, who you might recognise from his amazing BBC Three documentary, ‘Split Up in Care: Life Without Siblings’. Ashley is amazing, funny and open and together he speaks candidly with Kate about how he’d already lived with five families by the age of 18. Ashley shares heartbreaking stories of exclusion and the need to put up fronts to reduce the pain of a volatile childhood. Ashley also talks about re-building relationships with his biological...
Apr 13, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Finding love and ‘moving on’ when you are in the thick of grief might feel impossible. But, sometimes (and often unexpectedly) you’re able to let new people into your lives and hearts. This was the case for our wonderful guests today - Sky Sports presenter Simon Thomas, along with his wonderful wife Derrina. In this honest and heart warming discussion, Derrina and Simon talk about how they have supported Ethan (Simon’s son and Derrina’s ‘chum’) in navigating their new reality, making space for g...
Apr 06, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 3
*Trigger warning* This episode covers the loss of loved ones. What is grief? Is there a right or wrong way to grieve? And what are the different approaches to dealing with it? Today’s guest is bestselling psychotherapist, Julia Samuel MBE, who brought such warmth and wisdom to these really tough subjects. Julia believes that every family has a story - so much so that she’s titled her most recent book just that. In this warm and informative episode, Julia and Kate explore some of the common issue...
Mar 30, 2022•53 min•Season 1Ep. 2
