‘I’m that mum crying at the school gates,’ Christine Lampard on anxiety and perils of being a football manager’s wife
LIKE many parents across the country, Christine Lampard has been dealing with a huge “mum milestone” – her four-year-old daughter Patricia has just started primary school, opening up a whole new world of worry.
Christine, 44, who also has two-year-old son Freddie with husband Frank Lampard, explains: “I’ve had a lovely summer, but my little girl just started school.
“I’m not wildly excited about it, though we’re trying to make her excited.
“She’s been at nursery two mornings a week, but she would have rather stayed at home than go.
“Obviously, everyone has to go to school, but I just keep thinking: ‘Oh, no, I really miss her.’
“She’s still just a wee baby in my head, and then suddenly you’re packing them off and I’m that mum crying at the school gates!”
It’s been a real time of change in the Lampard household, as Frank’s eldest daughter from a previous relationship, Luna, has just turned 18.
The poignancy of this particular big birthday is not lost on Christine, as Luna was just four – the same age as Patricia – when Christine started dating the 45-year-old former footballer.
“The big one is 18 today,” she says with a smile.
“She was the age my little girl is now when I first met her.
“And as she got older, I would always jokingly say: ‘I can’t wait until you are 18 – I will take you out for drinks, I can be your wing woman…’ And now it’s here! I can’t believe it.
“She’s going to university and she’s just been away on holiday on her own.
“She’s a grown-up doing her own thing now.”
‘I’m relatively easy-going, but I worry about my children’
She says that she and Frank are proud that Luna – and her sister Isla, 16 – still want to hang out with them, and are hoping it will be the same for Patricia and Freddie.
“Frank and I say that one of the markings of a successful parent is having your grown-up children wanting to spend time with you.
“I’ve always thought if we can master that, then I’ll be a happy older person.”
Despite Christine appearing to be a vision of confidence, she admits that she actually suffers badly from anxiety.
She points to growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles as the cause, especially as her dad, Frederick, was the drummer in a band at a time when the IRA was regularly targeting pubs.
“It’s a weird thing,” she admits.
“My dad would have been out a lot with music.
“I was constantly stressed about hearing him coming home, because there were truly awful things happening all the time.
“I was definitely extremely nervous.
“I couldn’t go to sleep until I heard my dad’s car.
“Even talking about it now I have the exact same feelings – of absolute fear.
“Being terrified that you may get a phone call or a knock at the door, because that’s what happened to people all the time back then unfortunately.
“It was horrendous; it horrified me.
“There were awful things that happened, and sadly, loads of people did get that awful phone call.
“I definitely had a real nervousness.
“And I’m generally still a bit nervous.
“On Lorraine, I get nervous even though I do it every single day. But they’re controllable nerves.
“I’m also nervous about Patricia starting school.
“I think it’s just who I am fundamentally.
“Even though I am relatively easygoing about a lot of stuff, I do worry about other people – especially my children.
“I think it’s in my DNA.
“My mum is exactly the same. She stresses about me and my sister – and we are both in our 40s!”
‘There will be filthy talk and I will be cringing’
Christine won’t have too much time on her hands to fret as she is going on tour with Loose Women this month.
For the first time ever the panel will be on the road, travelling around the country sharing stories and secrets of the much loved show – even doing a night at the iconic London Palladium.
“I still can’t believe it’s all happening,” she admits.
“I have no idea what it is going to be like.
“I have friends coming over to see Ricky Gervais, who’s performing at the Palladium.
“We were trying to figure out the night that I could go and I had to say that I needed to check my diary, because I’m actually doing a night at the Palladium as well!
“It felt surreal to have to make sure we would be going on the night Ricky’s there and I’m not.
“It’s hilarious just saying it.
“My friend sent me a picture of this huge sign, which said ‘Loose Women Tour’. I actually got butterflies.
“It is basically a bit of an uncensored show.
“There’ll be a lot of audience interaction, and us being our totally unfiltered selves.
“We are all doing them.
“Gloria [Hunniford] is doing some of them, too, and she’s so X-rated off-camera.
“She will say things that you really don’t expect to come from her, because she is like a TV queen.”
While Christine is hoping all the Loose Women fans come to watch the show, there is one person who is categorically not allowed to attend – Christine’s mother, Mina.
She laughs: “I’ve actually banned my mum from coming to the tour.
“I said to my sister that there will be filthy talk and I’ll be sitting there cringing.
“My mum wouldn’t be able to cope.
“It’s such a weird Northern Irish thing that still hangs over you with your parents, even though I’m married, 44, and have two children.
“It just sticks with you.”
While Christine’s work diary is filling up, she’s thankful that Frank has been less busy after leaving his interim position managing his old football club Chelsea at the end of last season.
After dealing with him commuting between London and Liverpool when he was managing Everton last year, Christine knows he could end up anywhere in the country – or even the world, given that Steven Gerrard recently moved his family to Saudi Arabia to manage a team there.
“It’s been an absolute blessing,” she says.
“I don’t quite know what I would have done this summer without him.
“Even today, usually my sister would have had to come over from Belfast.
“But Frank is in charge. It’s lovely and we’re taking full advantage of that before anything kicks off.
“God knows what could happen next, because with football you are always on standby.
“When he got the job at Everton, he got the call on Friday and was gone by Saturday.
“It literally happens overnight, so we’re always prepared for those things.
“We haven’t ruled anywhere out, but conversations absolutely have to happen now more so than they had to in the past, given that Patricia’s started school.
“This will be the first time we’ve really had to deal with this.
“When we went to New York [Frank signed for New York FC in 2015 and Christine moved with him for two years], that was before the little ones.
“It just changes things.
“You can’t have him totally disappear.
“We have to look at how we can make it work.”
‘We’re taking full advantage of Frank being around while we can’
You have to make the most of your life, and sometimes travelling is a massive part of becoming a really well-rounded person. But then the sensible head kicks in a little bit about what’s best for everyone. Also, there are loads of people who have to have those chats about where to work and where to live,” she says.
“But at the minute, we just fully appreciate that he’s at home and the kids totally love it, too. Normally it would be: ‘Mummy, Mummy’, but now it’s a bit more: ‘Daddy, Daddy’, which is delightful. Plus, it just gives me a tiny bit of time!”
Frank’s career saw him win three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups and both the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League while playing at Chelsea, as well as earn 106 caps for England.
With such a prolific sportsman for a father, are the kids looking set to follow in his footsteps?
“Our wee boy is obsessed with football without us even pushing it,” Christine says.
“I don’t know if it’s an innate thing or whether it’s just something learned.
“All he will wear is football kits, he won’t wear any other clothes.
“He has a selection of kits including Chelsea ones – which he loves – and then Everton, Man City, and Bayern Munich.
“He also has an England kit, and we just ordered him a Northern Ireland one.
“He carries a football around with him everywhere – he even sleeps with it.
“He just whacks it everywhere – I have had picture frames smashed!
“So it’s a very big thing for him. But then, our little girl hates it.”
Like many young girls, though, Christine admits that the Lionesses making the World Cup final did ignite Patricia’s interest in the game.
Christine explains: “She did love watching the Lionesses in the final, weirdly, because it was girls on TV.
“She kept saying how brilliant it was.
“She does quite like wearing football kits, too, but she’s very girlie.
“She likes unicorns and rainbows and pink.
“I wasn’t actually particularly girlie at all growing up, so I don’t know where it’s come from.
“It’s not me teaching her.”
One thing Christine and Frank won’t be doing is following in the footsteps of their pals Abbey Clancy and Peter Crouch and doing a couple’s podcast.
“No, I just don’t think we would,” she says adamantly.
“We can be cheeky and risky away from the limelight, but I don’t want to be putting our whole selves out there like that.
“You have to be a bit naughty, and I’d just be thinking that my mum’s listening and that I have to curtail it.
“We listen to loads of podcasts like that – I love Rosie and Chris Ramsey’s one, as well as Vogue Williams and Spencer Matthews’. And they’re so brilliant at it – I couldn’t do what they do at all.
“It’s fair play to people who have the content to keep going. We’d be like: ‘No, I don’t have anything else to say!’”
However, Christine has had plenty to say as one of the judges – alongside Anthony Joshua, Ellie Simmonds and Dr Zoe Williams – of The Sun’s prestigious Who Cares Wins Awards.
The glitzy bash celebrates health and social care workers who go above and beyond.
‘It’s nice to remember there is still good in the world’
She explains: “I take the role of judging very seriously, and I found it really hard to choose the winners this year.
“I’d read the entrants and have an instinct of who should win, then I’d read them again and think how brilliant they all are.
“I take a lot of time over deciding, trying to do it justice, because every single one of them is deserving and has an incredible story.
“It’s not like you can say one is better than the other, but sometimes it’s something that maybe pulls at your heartstrings just a little bit more.
“It means a great deal to people – even for those who don’t pick up an award.
“Last year, I spoke to so many nominees who said how wonderful it was to give them a moment to tell their stories.
“It’s important to remember that there are people going to work and doing 12-hour shifts and doing their best to help us.
“It’s lovely to show recognition to people who are willing to put their own lives at risk, and all in the name of helping others.
“Let’s face it, we hear awful stories all the time, so sometimes it’s nice to remember that there’s still good in the world.”
- The Sun’s Who Cares Wins Awards airs on Channel 4 on September 24.
FABULOUS PARENTING CLUB
What’s your funniest parenting memory?
My little girl had a real love of doing a poo in the bath. We were talking about it earlier in fact, as she still thinks it’s so funny.
Any top tips
Weirdly, I’ve seen this loads on Instagram, but I thought of it nearly five years ago: if you need to give your baby medicine like Calpol, then just put it in the teat of a bottle.
Is there anything you wish you’d known before having a baby?
You don’t need half the stuff you think you do. I bought all these bits for Patricia in a panic, but I look back and I didn’t need any of them. When Freddie came along, very little was bought for him, and he knew no difference. He was the happiest baby.
Who’s your parenting inspo?
Everyone says their mum, but I really mean it. We always knew how to behave and we grew up respectful without her being harsh. We never got whacked or anything. If I’m half as good as my mum, my two will be fine.
- Additional photography: Getty Images, Darren Fletcher, Instagram/Christine Lampard
- Hair: Maurice Flynn using Oribe
- Make-up: Helen Hand using Dr Gabriela Skincare and Chanel
- Styling: Nana Acheampong Christine wears on p10: coat, Karenmillen.com; waistcoat, Mango; trousers, River Island On p13: dress, Karenmillen.com