Kate Ferdinand confessed that she left Rio Ferdinand and moved back to her home in Essex after their home life became “incredibly difficult”.
The former TOWIE star, 28, admitted she felt isolated and out of place in his home, which he shared with his three children, who he had with his late wife Rebecca.
Kate opened up about the rough patch they hit as Rio mourned the death of his mum Janice, who died two years after Rebecca, who lost her battle with cancer.
She told You magazine: “I cried every single day for a year when I first moved in with Rio,’ she says. ‘It was an incredibly difficult time …
“Nothing in the house was mine; everyone called it ‘Rio’s house’.
(Image: xkateferdinand/Instagram)
“All the photographs were of Rebecca and the children. I had no place. I remember after six months becoming obsessed with wanting Molton Brown Rhubarb & Rose soap that I always have at home, just to have a smell I knew.
“I bought a bottle and put it downstairs but it got taken away. As stupid as it sounds, that crushed me, but what was making me feel more isolated was if I said those things out loud people would think I was pathetic and selfish.”
Kate went on: “I lost myself. I felt as though I was acting all the time, trying to smile and learn to cook and be this perfect woman.
(Image: Instagram)
“When I’d cook something, someone would say, “Rebecca didn’t do it like that,” and I’d smile but inside I’d feel crushed.”
Kate decided to move out of his home and back to her Essex flat as things started to get too much for her, but they eventually worked things out.
Rio and Kate tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in Turkey last year, making Kate step-mum to Rio’s three kids, Lorenz, 13, Tate, 11, and Tia, eight.
(Image: Instagram)
The former England footballer credits the making of new BBC documentary Rio And Kate: Becoming A Step Family with helping them talk through their issues.
Rio added: “I realised that if I wanted to make it work, we needed help. And doing another documentary could help us by finding answers.”
Rio And Kate: Becoming A Step Family airs Monday February 10 at 9pm on BBC1.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk