Rio Ferdinand opens up about telling his children they will ‘never see their mum again’

Rio Ferdinand appeared on This Morning today to discuss how he and his children coped following the death of is wife.

Ahead of his BBC documentary tonight, the former footballer gave his first interview since losing his wife Rebecca to breast cancer in 2015. Speaking to hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, Rio admitted that the hardest part was telling his children they would never see their mother again.

He said: “That’s probably the hardest point before she passed away that you have to tell your children you’re going home from the hospital today and never seeing your mum again.

“I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. You’re just thrown into a situation where you’ve got to deal with the school run for instance.

“Your appreciation for mothers and how they cope and how they deal with the school run.

“I thought I was playing a big part of the school run but I soon realised there’s so many things that we as men don’t even consider.”

Rebecca was first diagnosed in 2013 and went into remission, but to the devastation of the family the cancer later returned aggressively.

“I wish I could have said more, I wish I could have done more, you hurt yourself. I would just shut her down and close the conversation, I didn’t want to get emotional,” the 38-year-old said.

“Without talking, you miss that opportunity to have that idea about what your partner would have wanted, and that’s a tormenting thing.”

Phillip and Holly reassured their guest that Rebecca would be very proud of Rio as they discussed his relationship with his three children.

He added: “[I’m] undoubtedly a better dad because my kids are benefitting. I’m seeing it day in and day out with my children.

“If you put them in a room with 20 children you wouldn’t know they had lost their mum and that’s testament to them.”

Rio Ferdinand: Being Mum and Dad airs tonight (Tuesday) at 9pm on BBC One.