Dancing on Ice star Jennifer Ellison feels guilty leaving son for work
Filed under: Celebrity News
Email This
Text Size
A
A
A
Comments
PA
The former Brookside actress - who has reportedly lost five stone since having her little boy, Bobby - says work means life is a juggling act.
Jennifer says the skating practice and work commitments in the run up to the live Dancing on Ice shows left her with little time for her son, who turns two next month.
She told this week's new! magazine:
"It has been a huge juggling act for me. For the first eight weeks of training, I was on tour with Calendar Girls. Because I was moving around, I had a different coach at a different ice rink each week.
"I was also doing eight stage shows a week and still trying to be a mum. Some days, I'd travel four hours to an ice rink, then go home, kiss Bobby and then go to Calendar Girls."
Jennifer, 28, says that as a toddler, Bobby cannot understand why mummy has to leave him:
"He's too young to understand that I have to go to work, earn a living. That's when I feel the guilt."
The hard-working mum revealed that she had 'a bit of a cry' when she had to leave him in Liverpool for a week recently whilst she trained for Dancing on Ice in London - but found modern technology saved the day!
"I had a bit of a cry leaving him because I'm not going to see him until the weekend," she says. "But, luckily, I can Skype him every night!"
Read the full story in this week's new! - out today
Did you see Jennifer on Dancing on Ice?
Are you impressed with her amazing post-baby weight loss? And do you sympathise with her work/life juggling?
- Myleene Klass<p> <strong>Maternity leave length:</strong> 10 days with Ava, 10 weeks with Hero<br /> <br /> When her now toddler, Ava was born, glamorous girl Myleene headed back to present her radio show just 10 days later. She took a bit longer off when little <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.ukphpmyadmin.parentdish.co.uk/2011/03/26/myleene-klass-has-baby-girl/" target="_blank">Hero</a> arrived on the scene, but only <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/06/08/myleene-klass-why-i-have-gone-back-to-work-10-weeks-after-baby-hero-born/" target="_blank">10 weeks</a> in total. The reason? She didn’t want the world to forget her.<br /> <br /> ‘Whether it was six months or six weeks, it was never going to be easy,’ admitted Myleene at the time. 'My fiancé Gray is always saying, 'You need to go easy on yourself.' Last week, I had terrible mastitis and Gray tried to get me to relax. But I'm petrified showbusiness will leave me behind, as it has before.’</p>
- Gisele Bundchen<p> <strong>Maternity leave length:</strong> Six weeks</p> <p> A month and a half into motherhood, Gisele waved goodbye to life as an at-home mum to Benjamin, and headed back to her modelling career, shooting a promo for a fashion brand. She was apparently overheard saying that although it wasn’t long after the birth, she was ‘in shape as always.’ Urgh.</p>
- Heidi Klum<p> <strong>Maternity leave length:</strong> Seven weeks<br /> <br /> Less than two months after giving birth to her fourth baby, Lou, Heidi squeezed herself into a leather skirt and filmed a haircare advert, showing off her impossible post-baby curves, without a dark circle under the eye or stretch mark in sight.</p>
- Natalie Cassidy<p> <strong>Maternity leave length:</strong> Four months</p> <p> After wading into the maternity leave row by lashing out at <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2010/11/04/denise-van-outen-criticises-natalie-cassidy/" target="_blank">Denise Van Outen</a> for heading back to the office, Natalie Cassidy was the pot calling the kettle black when she signed up for a reality show following her life as a new mum. She set about <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/02/01/natalie-cassidy-takes-baby-eliza-to-work-despite-criticising-working-mums/" target="_blank">promoting it</a> just a few months after welcoming baby Eliza, with appearances on TV chat shows and pages and pages in celeb magazines. As you can imagine, Denise <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2010/11/04/denise-van-outen-criticises-natalie-cassidy/" target="_blank">saw red…</a></p>
- Karren Brady<p> <strong>Maternity leave length: </strong>Three days</p> <p> Apprentice star and businesswoman <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/02/08/karren-brady-sudoku-in-bed-holidays-and-how-you-can-never-be-too-competitive/" target="_blank">Karren </a>took an unimaginable three days of maternity leave when she welcomed her first baby, now teen, Sophia. Admitting it wasn’t an ideal situation, Karren took a much more relaxed approach with her second child, Paolo. ‘That was a mistake. When Paolo was born I took more time off and worked from home,’ says Karren. ‘I tried bringing both children into the office but that didn’t work out. I had to have full-time help in the end.’</p>
- Katie Hopkins<p> <strong>Maternity leave length:</strong> Three weeks</p> <p> Mum of three Katie hit the headlines when she appeared on the Apprentice a few years ago. She wades into mum debates in the press regularly, recently speaking out about maternity leave, encouraging new mums to head back to work as soon as they want to: ‘ I took 'micro maternity leave' - you're pregnant, you give birth, you go back,’ admitted Katie. ‘Work gives a sense of normality when you don't even recognise your own body.’</p>
- Miranda Kerr<p> <strong>Maternity leave length:</strong> 12 weeks<br /> <br /> Model and glamour puss Miranda was back in her cossie and on the runway just three months after giving birth to her first baby with husband, Orlando Bloom, super-cute Flynn. She also, somehow, managed to shift two stone in 12 weeks ready for her new-mum close up. Not that we couldn’t do it too if we really wanted to…</p>
- Kym Marsh<p> <strong>Maternity leave length:</strong> Four months</p> <p> Not too bad compared to other celebrity mummys, but four months still seems a little quick to us, and Kym’s Twitter followers clearly agree. She was <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/07/14/kym-marsh-in-twitter-outrage-over-working-mums/ " target="_blank">blasted </a>on the social networking site for heading back to the cobbles and filming for Corrie so soon after giving birth to<a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/03/24/kym-marsh-gives-birth-to-daughter-five-weeks-early/ " target="_blank"> Polly, </a>but she wasn’t having any of it, responding to her critics with the tweet: ‘It's called working.....or should we not be working when we have children?? How dare we provide for our kids! Idiot.'</p>
- Nicole Kidman<p> <strong>Maternity leave length:</strong> Three weeks</p> <p> Nicole headed back on to the set of the film, Australia, just a few weeks after giving birth to her first baby, Sunday Rose. The new mum was clearly not one for rest and relaxation at home, admitting after her quick return: ‘I’d just given birth, so I was like, ‘I’m still a woman — I want to do this film! And I have a life other than feeding this baby.’ When you give birth you’re itchy to get back to work, you want to feel that life still goes on.’</p>
- Denise Van Outen<p> <strong>Maternity leave length: </strong>Two weeks<br /> <br /> Just a fortnight after welcoming baby Betsy, Denise was back at work, doing the rounds on TV, radio and promoting her maternity clothing range. Confidently admitting she was ready for action, Denise said: ‘I am not taking any time off. I am working. I worked two weeks after I had Betsy, so I have carried it all on, really. I work at least three days a week and my mum is helping out.’<br /> <br /> Of course then it all kicked off when <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2010/08/24/pregnant-natalie-cassidy-slates-denise-van-outen-for-returning-t/" target="_blank">Natalie Cassidy criticised her</a> for heading back to the day job so quickly…</p>
- Victoria Beckham<p> <strong>Maternity leave length:</strong> Spotted heading to a meeting after one month<br /> <br /> When pregnant with arrival of the year, <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/07/11/victoria-beckham-names-baby-daughter-harper-seven/" target="_blank">Harper Seven,</a> Posh joked she wasn’t going to be taking maternity leave as she was too busy, going as far as asking, ‘maternity leave, what’s that?’<br /> <br /> Now a doting new mum to the little lady, Posh has been holed up at home enjoying her daughter and three older sons, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz, but has been <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/08/22/super-skinny-victoria-beckham-spotted-for-first-time-since-birth-harper-seven/ " target="_blank">papped </a>out and about preparing for New York Fashion Week.</p>
- Holly Willoughby<p> <strong>Maternity leave length:</strong> Five months</p> <p> After starting maternity leave a few weeks early when she went into labour with <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/04/14/holly-willoughby-baby-news-her-daughter-is-born/" target="_blank">Belle, </a>Holly <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/09/01/holly-willoughby-returns-to-work-as-baby-belle-turns-five-months/" target="_blank">headed back</a> to This Morning and Celebrity Juice after five months off. The new mum tweeted her nervous excitement about heading back to the day job, saying: 'First day back at work today!!!! Cant wait to start the new series of Celeb juice, feeling slightly nervous! Wander if I can still do it!'</p>
- Amanda Holden<p> <strong>Maternity leave length:</strong> Two weeks</p> <p> Despite a dramatic birth with lots of <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/26/amanda-holden-tells-how-her-heart-stopped-beating-for-40-seconds-traumatic-birth-hollie-rose/" target="_blank">complications</a>, Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda raced back to her seat on the panel after just two weeks at home with new arrival <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/01/25/amanda-holden-gives-birth-to-daughter-hollie-rose/" target="_blank">Hollie. </a></p>
