Despite sharing snaps of their lavish lifestyle, it seems it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be for Kate Ferdinand after the family decided to relocate to the Middle East
It was supposed to be an exciting “new chapter” and a “fresh start” for her family. But for Kate Ferdinand, it sounds like last year’s move to Dubai has not resulted in the dream life she’d hoped for.
In a recent episode of her podcast, Blended, the star broke down in tears while admitting she’s missing her loved ones back home. Kate and former England footballer Rio, 47, moved to the UAE last August and while her husband is “loving” his new life out there, things aren’t quite as rosy for Kate.
“I am enjoying it, but I miss home quite a lot,” she admitted. “I can’t talk about it because I get upset. I feel like we’ve opened our eyes to a different world. But I love London. I do feel happy in Dubai, but I’m just missing a part of me.”
According to a source, relocating just hasn’t worked out the way Kate had hoped, and she finds Dubai itself “soulless”. Our insider claims: “She’s struggling. She’s really missing home. She’s not enjoying it. And even though she’s got the kids and she’s got Rio there, she’s homesick. She can’t stop it and it’s very difficult. It’s just not home.”
READ MORE: Rio Ferdinand struggling and using a wheelchair after buff Men’s Health coverREAD MORE: Kate Ferdinand reveals secrets to ‘happy house’ after moving to Dubai with Rio
Last month Kate, 34, hinted she was finding her new life overseas a challenge. After spending Christmas back in the UK with family, she posted that she was “feeling the pressure” to get back to the gym and that she’d been hit by “fatigue”.
Kate and Rio have five children between them – Cree, five, and Shae, two, as well as Rio’s three from his first marriage to late wife Rebecca. But while Rio’s daughter Tia, 14, made the move to the UAE with them, eldest sons Lorenz, 19, Tate, 17, remained in the UK to focus on their budding football careers – a move which has caused further anguish for Kate.
Speaking on her podcast, she confessed, “I miss the big boys a lot and I’m struggling with that. I know this decision is right for my younger children and as a family we are settled there, but the boys are following their football careers. So they’re doing what they want to do, otherwise they’d be with us.”
She added: “But it’s very hard because we’ve been through so much as a family and we’ve always been together and that’s a huge adjustment.”
A New! magazine source claims that without family and friends close to hand, the pressure of keeping everything afloat is taking its toll.
“She’s juggling with stepkids and her own kids and not finding a lot of time for herself,” says our source. “She gets the kids ready in the morning, she puts them in school, then she goes and does a workout. She finds her workouts and meditation really help her, but it is non-stop.
“She has no family out there, so it’s tough. She’s not coping. She’s trying to do her exercising to help, but she’s homesick and doesn’t want to be out there full time.
Ahead of the move, Kate appeared optimistic about the future, not least because Dubai holds a special place in her and Rio’s hearts. As well as first meeting there while on separate holidays in 2016, the couple got engaged in nearby Abu Dhabi two years later.
“We are making a new home in the place we met!” Kate gushed just six months ago. Despite sharing snaps of their lavish lifestyle, it seems it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be for Kate. But as she and Rio currently live in a £6.5 million mansion in the luxurious gated community of Al Barari, we’re told she is wary of sharing her true feelings as she doesn’t want to look ungrateful.
“It’s difficult, because she doesn’t want to come across as spoilt, that sort of thing,” claims our source. “She has a lovely lifestyle and doesn’t have many money worries, like many people [have] today. But she’s homesick and misses her family and friends, so it’s a big shock and change for her.”
In happier news, Kate and Rio last week became the first British couple to pose on the front of Women’s Health and Men’s Health UK magazines at the same time.
Chatting about what makes their relationship work, Kate said humour plays a big part. “We wind each other up constantly. But you’ve got to have a laugh, haven’t you?” she said. “In our home, everyone gets in on it. I feel like it makes for a happy house.”
The super-fit star added that she and her husband get very competitive when it comes to training, saying, “It can get quite… intense!”
And while Kate might be struggling to settle into life abroad, it sounds like exercise has been a much-needed tonic. “I want to look good and I’m happier when I look good, I have to be honest,” she admitted. “But I would always choose to exercise because I work out for my mental health, too.”
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