I want to be a dad again at 90 and I don’t need Viagra, ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says
HE’S just become a father again at the ripe old age of 89 . . . but Bernie Ecclestone isn’t done yet.
The former Formula 1 supremo wants ANOTHER baby. But forget Viagra. The only supplement he needs is vitamin D.
Speaking four days after the birth of his son Ace with wife Fabiana Flosi, 44, Bernie hit back at claims he is “too old” to raise a child. And he reckons he will be a better dad fourth time around.
Weighing in at a healthy 7lb 1oz, the tot spent his first night at home yesterday after leaving hospital.
And Bernie — father of Petra, 31, Tamara, 36, and 65-year-old Deborah from his first marriage — tells The Sun on Sunday: “I am really happy. When I had the girls in the first place, obviously I was much younger.
“But also I was more worried about running a business than running around after them.
“Now I have more time on my hands and I hope I can spend it with my son as he grows up. I don’t know if we will stop here. Perhaps he should have a little brother or sister.
‘I told Fabiana half a dozen kids is great’
“Do I take anything? No! Fabiana gives me some tablets — vitamin D — but I don’t take anything else.”
While interviewing Tamara earlier this week, This Morning host Eamonn Holmes called the 5ft 3in tycoon a “stud muffin”.
“What is a stud muffin?” Bernie asks me, apparently mystified.
When I explain it describes a healthy and virile young man, Bernie earnestly responds: “Oh. I don’t think he actually knows me that well, but I want to thank him for thinking that way about me.”
Speaking from his ski chalet in Switzerland, where he has spent the past three months self-isolating, Bernie confirmed that his new son had been born on Wednesday.
Now Bernie — who turns 90 in October — is gearing up for a life of sleepless nights and bottle-feeds. But this latest addition to the Ecclestone family was no mere happy accident.
The legendary businessman reveals he promised children to his Brazilian wife when the pair first started dating eight years ago.
Bernie says: “Fabiana said she wanted a family, and I told her, ‘That’s no problem for me. Half a dozen kids is great’.”
Bernie, the Suffolk-born son of a fisherman, who left school at 16, is now worth £2.5billion, according to the most recent Sunday Times Rich List.
He made his money through motor racing after an unsuccessful attempt to become a driver himself.
In the Seventies he engineered the sale of the Grand Prix TV rights and went on to become boss of the Formula One Group.
Bernie left in 2017 following a £6.4billion takeover by US corporate giant Liberty Media but remains a vocal supporter of the sport, which kicks off its new season today.
Last week Bernie was forced to deny accusations of racism after expressing surprise that Lewis Hamilton had been upset over taunts.
He moved to clarify deeply controversial comments that “in lots of cases, black people are more racist than white people”.
But for all his bluster and tendency to speak before he thinks, Bernie is one of the most generous men around, regularly donating six and seven-figure sums to charity.
He has bought sprawling mansions for his socialite daughters and given both access to a generous trust fund.
Now retired, Bernie previously joked that he would always have to work to fund his daughters’ lavish handbag expenditure.
So what will another round of fatherhood — this time against the backdrop of Covid — entail?
While insisting he has “never heard of” Peppa Pig — give it three years, I say — Bernie wants to be a hands-on dad. He says: “I will be listed to do lots of things by Fabiana, like changing nappies and so on, and that’s fine.
BERNIE'S BROOD
DEBORAH, 65: Bernie’s eldest, with first wife Ivy Bamford, is understood to be a retired businesswoman. She has always kept out of the limelight.
TAMARA, 36: His feisty middle daughter, with model Slavica Radic, had a brief stint on TV and married stockbroker Jay Rutland in 2013.
PETRA, 31: Lives in LA with fiance Sam Palmer. Has three kids with trader James Stunt, whom she divorced in 2017, and recently welcomed a daughter.
“I want to be around as long as possible.
“My daughters say I will live until I am 120 but I don’t think it’s the sort of thing you can make plans for. When you’re gonna go, you go.”
Bernie and Fabiana certainly seem blissfully happy.
They were introduced during the Brazilian Grand Prix, where Fabiana was F1’s vice-president of marketing, before a mutual friend invited her on a cruise around Croatia with Bernie and pals in 2009.
They married three years later — despite Bernie previously vowing never to wed again following his acrimonious 2009 divorce from second wife Slavica Radic.
A 6ft 2in former model, Slavica stood almost a foot taller than her ex and was 28 years his junior.
Bernie married his first wife, Ivy Bamford, in 1952.
The couple’s daughter Deborah also went into business but has remained out of the spotlight.
So, Bernie, what is the secret to such a long — and virile — life?
“Well,” he says, “I am still active. I am still around and still doing all the things I used to.
“I don’t do anything specifically to stay healthy and I don’t know what the secret is.
“Whatever my age is, I have always stayed mentally young. That . . . and my vitamins.”
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LUCKY ACE
BABY Ace won’t be wearing any hand-me-downs from his sisters – not least because the eldest of them is 65.
The tot is currently snoozing away in a designer cot at Bernie’s four-storey, £23million Swiss chalet, complete with new nursery.
With a trio of big sisters to call on around the world, Ace will be able to use a private jet, yacht and chauffeur-driven limo to visit them.
He has use of a home entertainment room to binge-watch Peppa Pig with Dad all day long.
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