Kate Ferdinand paid a sweet tribute to Rio’s late wife, Rebecca, who tragically died in 2015, aged 34, following a battle with breast cancer
Kate Ferdinand has paid tribute to Rio’s late first wife, Rebecca. As celebrations got underway for Rio’s son, Tate, on his 18th birthday, Kate, who found fame on The Only Way Is Essex, ensured his mother, Rebecca Ellison, was honoured throughout the day.
Rebecca, who was married to Rio from 2009 until her death in 2015, sadly died aged just 34, following a battle with breast cancer. But Kate made sure that Rebecca, who shared three children, sons Lorenz and Tate, and daughter Tia, with the former Manchester United icon, was very much part of Tate’s day.
Taking to Instagram, reality star Kate shared a string of snaps taken at the party. These included four framed photographs, printed and mounted, sitting on a shelf around food.
One of the pictures included Rebecca, with a huge smile, alongside her two sons, who were also smiling. Captioning her post, Kate penned: “A night for Tate.” And her sweet gesture didn’t go unnoticed.
One fan said: “The pictures with there mum. Honestly no one better could of come into there lives and took on the shoes of mum [sic].” “That pic of the 2 boys with their mummy, you’re the best,” said a second.
Meanwhile a third went on to type: “Aww @xkateferdinand honouring their mum is soo beautiful, your an inspiration and I’m sure their mum would be soo proud of how you came into their lives whilst loving and honouring memories of her with them, thank you Kate.”
“So lovely to have that memory of his mum,” said another. A fifth added: “The pciture of him with his mom get me. We all know she was watching.” “Their mummy would be so proud of you Kate,” said another.
Kate serves as stepmother to Rio’s children, Lorenz, Tate, and Tia, from his late wife, Rebecca. The couple also have two children together, Cree and Shae. Kate revealed last year that her stepchildren are completely comfortable with her referring to herself as their mum, rather than ‘Mummy Kate’.
During an appearance on the Happy Place podcast, she explained: “Sometimes I’m ‘Mummy Kate’. But the other day I found myself going ‘come here to Mummy’, and Tia’s there, and I go ‘Oh sorry’.
“Tia said, ‘Kate, it’s fine, I’m OK if you say, Mummy. You don’t have to say, Mummy Kate. It doesn’t bother me’.” Yet despite the close relationship they’ve built, Kate has previously opened up about spending an evening in floods of tears after receiving no card on her inaugural Mother’s Day following her move in with Rio and his three stepchildren.
On the pair’s Blended podcast, she confessed: “I wasn’t a biological mum. I think it was our first Mother’s Day – maybe I’d been living here about six months, something like that.
“And although I wasn’t a biological mum, I kind of felt like I’d taken on the mum role. For me, going from living at home on my own to taking the kids to school, cooking them dinner, I felt like a mum.”
Addressing Rio – whose own mother Janice passed away in 2017 – she went on: “I really thought I might get a card from you, and I didn’t get a card from you. I felt bad to express that in front of you because you guys had lost your mum, and the kids have lost their mum.
“So I just went in my room and I just sobbed my heart out – seriously. And then I felt selfish for wanting a card, ‘How dare I want a card?’
“So anyone that’s kind of new in this situation might feel like that because it’s a weird one – ‘I wasn’t a biological parent so how could I expect that?’ But I felt like a mum.”
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