Holly Willoughby reveals how she juggles being a mum with presenting two flagship TV shows
Filed under: Celebrity
PA
Holly Willoughby has revealed how the pressures of juggling being a mum with her demanding telly career have brought her and husband Dan Baldwin closer together.
The 31 year-old mum-of-two to Harry, three, and Belle, 11 months, presents both ITV's This Morning and BBC's Saturday night talent show, The Voice.
But despite the pressure Holly reckons she has got the work-life balance ideal "nailed".
In an interview with Fabulous magazine, she said: "It's about finding a balance and I think we've got it most of the time. We have a nanny, and also get a lot of support from both our mums.
"Five weeks after I had Harry I was back at work on The Xtra Factor.
i
But my mum came on the road with me and it was a flexible set-up, meaning I could record some links and then go off to breastfeed.
i
"I consider my work to be part-time. Most weeks I do four mornings, and whenever things start heading into the territory of being full-time I start reining it in.
"I also get a massive chunk of time off in the summer and I ringfence that and protect it with my life. Any job offers during that time are a complete no."
Holly said she didn't feel she was able to take extended maternity leave due to the fast-paced and fickle television industry.
"The thing about TV is that you can't just take three years off, because people move on quickly and you're forgotten about," she said.
"I'm freelance, so I've got to keep my finger in the pie. But I only do what feels right."
Holly and TV producer Dan will have been married five years this August, and having children has cemented what was already a rock-solid relationship.
i
Being parents has brought us closer together and the dynamics between us are constantly developing," she said.
i
"When we were boyfriend and girlfriend, getting engaged made things more intense.
"Then marriage did the same, and now having children together it's more intense than ever.
"We make time for each other, and that doesn't necessarily mean going out on a date.
"Some nights it can mean opening a bottle of wine and having a debrief about the day.
"Once we've put the kids to bed we're often exhausted, but we try not to have too many evenings where one of us is downstairs watching the football and the other is upstairs watching Midsomer Murders.
"Not that I'm saying that never happens... There are some days when that's exactly what happens!"
Congratulations, Holly, it really sounds like you have the work family balance sorted.
Short and sweet maternity leave
- 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>
- Una Healy<p> <strong style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;">Maternity leave length:</strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;"> One month</span></p> <p> Singer Una was back at work with her Saturdays bandmates just four weeks after giving birth to baby Aoife Belle. She started slow by appearing on local promotional shows, but was soon jet-setting around internationally, with her <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/05/04/una-healy-shows-off-baby-aoife-first-passport-on-twitter/" target="_blank">new arrival in tow.</a></p>
- Lily Allen<p> <strong style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;">Maternity leave length:</strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;"> Two months</span></p> <p> <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;">Lily took a long break after welcoming <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/01/04/lily-allen-names-her-baby-ethel/" target="_blank">first baby Ethel</a>, but was back on stage two months after giving birth to second daughter, Marnie Rose. She <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2013/02/27/new-mum-lily-allen-is-back-on-stage-and-unfazed-by-skinny-undewear-models-paris-fashion-week/" target="_blank">belted out her hit song ‘Smile’ at Paris Fashion Week</a>, to a very warm reception. </span></p>
- Adele<p> <strong style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;">Maternity leave length:</strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;"> Just over three months</span></p> <p> Adele has been keeping mum about her new son - rumoured to be called Angelo - who was <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/12/10/adele-could-face-1000-fine-for-not-registering-her-sons-birth/" target="_blank">born in October</a>. She kept well out of the public eye after his birth, but made her singing return at the Oscars, performing her hit Skyfall. </p>
Share this article
8 Comments