VIRUS FEARS
Lydia Bright is a ‘panicky’ new mum who is on constant ‘high alert’ because of coronavirus
LYDIA Bright is describing a nightmare she has had. It’s one that undoubtedly resonates with many new mums across the UK right now.
“I dreamed I was in this Perspex box, it was quarantine, and my mum was bringing the baby to me and I was crying,” she says.
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“I was having to put my hand up to the Perspex to touch my baby’s hand, but I couldn’t touch her because I was in isolation. I was held in this box for weeks and I missed out on weeks of my baby’s childhood. I had gone to bed worrying about coronavirus.
“I know they’re saying children and babies aren’t normally affected, or at least aren’t showing any symptoms, but because it is such a new virus I feel we are the human guinea pigs, and we don’t know yet.”
It is fair to say that 29-year-old Lydia’s introduction to first-time motherhood has not been the easiest.
Today, posing nude on our shoot in east London before lockdown was announced with her three-week-old daughter Loretta Rose, Lydia is keen to demonstrate the new-found fearlessness motherhood has given her.
However, that fearlessness has been severely tested by the coronavirus pandemic.
Former Towie star Lydia, who is joined on her shoot by her mum Debbie, 59, and older sister Georgia, 30, has seen her whole world change since February 21, when Loretta arrived four days early, weighing 7lb 11oz.
'‘HAD NIGHTMARES I CAN'T TOUCH MY BABY'
The labour couldn’t have gone better. Experiencing her first contractions while at a nail salon in Essex, Lydia was rushed to Whipps Cross Hospital in London, where she gave birth four hours later in a water pool surrounded by scented candles and listening to the soundtrack from The Holiday.
Debbie was present, as was Lydia’s boyfriend Lee Cronin, 33, who cut the umbilical cord. Lydia cherishes that day now more than ever.
“I do feel lucky she was born before coronavirus really came over to the UK,” she says. “Everything was fine in the hospital and I had two and a half weeks without it being nuts.
“I went into it almost excited to give birth. I’d done some hypnobirthing sessions and had this idea it would be a lovely water birth, and through each contraction I was going to visualise waves.
"The mind is so strong, and because I had these visualisations it all ended up being very positive.” The TV star could never have imagined then that the real challenge wouldn’t be labour at all, but the coronavirus crisis.
Once it reached the UK, any natural concerns of being a first-time mum and worrying that something might happen to her baby snowballed, and were replaced by a very tangible fear about the safety and health of her little girl.
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“Naturally, when you have a newborn, especially first-time mums, you are very protective,” says Lydia. “At night-time, if she doesn’t make a noise I’ll jump up because I’m scared she’s not breathing. I was so panicky those first days anyway, then with this I’m even more on high alert.
“I take Loretta out in the fresh air because I do think it’s important for her immune system. I’m just making sure when I leave the house I’ve got disposable gloves, but it is worrying.
“I feel a little bit sad, because she’s only been in the world a few weeks and the world is in absolute chaos at the moment, but it could be worse.”
Lydia named her daughter Loretta in honour of her father Dave, 62, who was born in the Italian town of Loreto, while Rose is Lydia’s middle name and that of her maternal grandmother. She nicknames Loretta “Dinky”, the pet name for Lydia’s paternal grandmother, who died at the age of 21.
Dinky’s photo is up in Loretta’s nursery – which features a pink ball pit and a chandelier – at Lydia’s newly renovated family home in Essex, just down the road from her parents’ house, where she currently lives.
After months of building work and “a drained bank balance”, Lydia hopes to be settling into her new home soon. The move will also signal a fresh start for her and boyfriend Lee, who broke her heart when he brutally dumped her 11 weeks into the pregnancy.
Life isn’t perfect. Social media puts unrealistic expectations on people
The pair met at a nightclub in Ibiza in June 2017 and fell madly in love and moved in together, before deciding to try for a baby. The fact the pregnancy was planned made Lee’s sudden change of heart even more unexpected.
“We were bickering and arguing, but it was still a massive shock when he dumped me,” recalls Lydia. “I just think some people react differently to stress and pressure.
"I was devastated, but when we split we had a discussion that this baby is half mine and half his, and no matter what, we’ve got to be amicable about this, so we went to all the scans and everything together.
“There are some cases where women stop their partners seeing their child, and sometimes it’s justifiable, but I don’t agree if it’s done out of spite – it takes two people to make a baby and it’s not fair on the child being deprived of having a relationship with their father either.
“At the beginning, we kept it very friendly at the scans,” she admits. “We weren’t speaking loads to each other, but there wasn’t any animosity as we were really excited about having the baby. We’d look at each other and be like: ‘Aww!’
“By the time of the birth, we’d got to a really good stage and we had the discussion that we were going to try to make a go of things as a family again.”
Luckily, Lee – who admitted he had made a mistake – has been able to stay at Lydia’s parents’ house with her and Loretta over the last few weeks.
But it’s not the first time the couple have split. Lee also called time on their relationship back in January 2019. So does she fear history will repeat itself for a third time?
“The real test is now we’re home and living together,” she says. “I’m just not worrying. You never know what the future will hold and while having this baby by myself initially was a big fear, I know now that I’m capable of doing it if it doesn’t work out.
“I’ve got all my family around me, and Lee will still be involved. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t – that’s life. I’m not a failure.
“Of course, I would really like it to work out for the sake of Loretta. I want her to have a family. I am going to really try, and I would like to think that Lee’s going to try, too.”
Lydia grew up in a loving, stable family with both her parents who wed in 2019 after 40 years together. They raised four biological children and have fostered more than 250 boys and girls over two decades.
'MASSIVE JOURNEY'
Understandably, she had hoped for the same family security for her Loretta. But after the split from Lee, Lydia found an inner strength she didn’t know existed. →
“Usually, if I was struggling I would never put that out there, but when Lee left me, I had to talk about it, because there was supposed to be two of us,” she says.
“And I’m so glad I did, because I received messages from women who were in similar situations thanking me for being so open. And that made me feel like I wasn’t so alone. I realised it wasn’t the end of the world. This baby was going to be a blessing, no matter what.
“I’ve always tried to live this perfect life and would only post things on social media where I looked perfect, with perfect make-up. I wanted to be perceived in a certain way – for people to not see my flaws.
“But life isn’t perfect. Social media puts unrealistic expectations on people and moving forward I just want to be real and raw about the stuff that happens that’s s**t. The only thing that really mattered was this baby I was carrying.”
It’s also perhaps no surprise that having grown up with three siblings and a brood of foster brothers and sisters, Lydia wants an equally big family.
“I have always envisaged I’d have four children,” she adds. “And if I don’t have all four myself, I would consider adoption.”
For now, Lydia says she is thinking about the positives, and particularly the one-on-one time she is getting to spend with Loretta during lockdown, which has enabled her to focus on bonding with her daughter.
“I was really overwhelmed by all the visitors at the beginning,” she says. “It sounds horrible, because they just wanted to meet my baby, but by the end of the day I’d worry: ‘Have I looked at her enough?
"Have I spoken to her enough today? Has she been on me enough?’ If there’s one silver lining of coronavirus for me, it’s that I don’t want anybody round at the moment, and it’s making me slow down.”
One person Lydia is still turning to is Lucy Mecklenburgh, who gave birth to her baby boy Roman Ravello with fiancé Ryan Thomas on March 12. The best friends appeared together on The Only Way Is Essex from the first series in 2010.
Back then, Lucy was the love interest of Mark Wright, who is now married to Michelle Keegan, and Lydia was in her turbulent seven-year on-off relationship with James Argent.
THE LAST
Book you read? I was pregnant in Ibiza for a wedding. While everyone was partying, I read The Mindful Mother by Naomi Chunilal in the bath.
Album you listened to? Summer Walker’s album Over It.
Box set you watched? Workin’ Moms. I can so relate to it, juggling work life and motherhood!
Movie you watched? Identity Thief. Melissa McCarthy is one of my favourite actors and is absolutely hilarious.
WhatsApp you received? A link to a TikTok video from my youngest sister, asking if we can recreate it.
Time you were drunk? A year ago. I can’t wait to get drunk again.
Time you cried? Yesterday. I had three hours’ sleep and was feeling fragile, and the news of coronavirus just got too much for me.
“I was FaceTiming Lucy when I was in labour and having my early contractions,” says Lydia. “She was crying her eyes out. We speak all the time because our babies are so close in age.
"We’ll speak during the night feeds, sending WhatsApp messages. Yesterday, I was sending her messages at 3am because Loretta makes loads of noises during the night – I think it’s constipation, but she sounds like she’s got the devil in her – and I’m asking Lucy if her baby makes noises like that.”
While both mums are famed for their figures and kept up regular fitness regimes during their pregnancies, Lydia is in no rush to get back to the gym and is content with her post-baby body – although she is apprehensive about admitting that.
“I’ve been breastfeeding, which helps lose the weight,” she says. “Loretta is absolutely massive and will not stop eating. She’s a proper little gannet.
“I think I’ve got about 8lb to go then I’ll be back to what I was pre-baby. My bum is a lot flatter, because I haven’t done any glute work for a while, and my stomach’s a bit square, but I’m pretty much back in my clothes already.
"I know people will be frustrated about that and will think: ‘Oh, she’s focusing on her body rather than her baby.’
“If you put a picture up on social media and you’ve still got your bump, people are like: ‘Yes, this is real!’ But this is my reality – it’s just the way my body is, but people get frustrated if you bounce back quite quickly.”
Motherhood is the latest milestone for Lydia, a successful entrepreneur who in 2012 launched her own fashion business, Bella Sorella, with sister Georgia.
Eight years on, it’s a huge success with pop-up stores in 10 cities across the UK, shipping as far as Australia, and in 2013 it was awarded a Drapers Award, in recognition of outstanding service, design and innovation.
But Lydia, who turns 30 next January, hasn’t forgotten that it all started on TOWIE, which celebrates it’s 10-year anniversary this October. Bosses of the reality show are in talks to film a reunion special with the original cast members. Will Lydia be joining?
“I’ve had discussions about there being something, but nothing has been set in stone yet,” she teases. It’s crazy to think it’s been 10 years. It’s been a massive journey and I feel very grateful for the opportunity.
"We often talk about the negative sides to reality TV, and I’ve felt them, but it has been such a positive thing in my life. I was living in Spain and they contacted me and said: ‘We’ve got your ex-boyfriend on the show, would you like to be involved?’
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
I said: ‘OK’. They flew me over and I was filming three days later. I never wanted to be famous, whereas nowadays some people only do reality TV as a way to be famous. With us it was never about that. It just happened… Well, for some of us.”
- Listen to The Brights podcast hosted by Lydia now on iTunes and Spotify.
Additional photography: Planet Photos, Instagram/Lydia Bright Hair: Dino Pereira using Kiehl’s Since 1851 Magic Elixir Make-up: Aimee Adams using Sculpted by Aimee Styling: Nana Acheampong Lydia wears p13: body, Topshop
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