Casey Batchelor

‘Meet Sadie – my little dreamboat!’ EXCLUSIVE

Casey Batchelor introduces her newborn daughter Sadie, opens up about juggling two children and reveals why she’s put her wedding plans on hold

We love babies here at new, so we were very excited when Casey Batchelor invited us over to meet her latest bundle of joy, daughter Sadie. Opening the door at her beautiful Hertfordshire home, you wouldn’t believe Casey, 35, had given birth in January – she looks amazing. “I’m feeling good, but tired. It’s the first time I’ve had make-up on,” she laughs as she gets glammed up for our shoot. The Celebrity Big Brother star is still recovering from a C-section, something she planned following the “traumatic” birth of her eldest daughter Florence in May 2018.

“I had two completely different births,” she says. “The first time you don’t know what to expect and sleep deprivation is a massive thing, but now I know it’s coming and I’m used to it, so it’s not so bad.”

Adorable Sadie, who weighed 8lb 2oz, has inherited Casey’s dark hair and the former model turned fitness guru is delighted to have her “mini-me”.

She is open about the fact that Florence, who is the spit of Casey’s fiancé Dane Goodson, 33, is struggling with the family’s new addition.

“She’s all for Dane,” Casey reveals. “But she’s coming around to the idea of Sadie.

“It’s so cute to have two girls. It’s so nice they’ve got each other, because I never had a sister. The Goodson sisters – sounds like The Goodfellas!” Here, Casey opens up about juggling two children under the age of two, why she will take her time in losing her baby weight and getting back on TV in 2020…

dreamboat. She sleeps, whereas Florence didn’t. Some nights I’d get two or three hours a night, but with Sadie I’m getting a good five or six. Sadie is a lovely name. Where did it come from? When I find a name that I like, I stick with it. I’ve stuck with Sadie since I was three months pregnant. I like old-fashioned names. My friend’s daughter is called Farrah, like Farrah Fawcett, and then I was thinking of some actresses and I thought of Sadie Frost. I was like, “Oh, I like Sadie!” Dane liked it too. How was the birth? I was umming and ahhing a lot throughout the pregnancy over whether to have a natural birth or a Caesarean. I decided to have a C-section because I had a traumatic time with Florence where everything went wrong. They punctured my spine, I had forceps and they cut me. This time was much calmer and more relaxed and everything has been so much nicer. How did you feel when you held Sadie for the first time? It was so nice. The nicest thing was her dark hair, whereas Florence came out quite fair. Everyone says Sadie looks like me, which is nice as Florence is a mini Dane. Did you have the traditional post-birth tea and toast? At first I kept heaving. When I first came out [of theatre] they put so many drugs and painkillers and morphine in me I actually felt like I was on a different planet. I kept saying to Dane, “That sign over there is moving!” I felt really good and then a bit groggy and then I had tea and toast. How did having a Caesarean compare to a natural birth? I couldn’t feel my legs for ages this time. It was surreal being in the theatre – there were about 15

‘Everyone says Sadie looks like me, which is nice as Florence is a mini Dane’

people in there. I remember they had Bob Marley on. When I was giving birth to Florence I was pushing and people were down there, but you just don’t care. This time I wasn’t in pain, but I was like, “There are lots of people looking at my nun.” I hadn’t shaved! The first time was gross, but this time people were looking at my hairy nunnie! [Laughs] Ha! Have you had much pain during your recovery? I’ve healed quite well. Obviously I’ve not been able to pick up Florence, which means she’s been all over Dane. She doesn’t understand, either, which has made her go to Dane even more and ignore me. So has Florence become a daddy’s girl now? She’s all for Dane and she won’t let him put her down. It’s good, but I’m worried about when Dane goes back to work. Hopefully she’ll love me again. How is Florence coping with having a little sister? She’s just been ignoring the baby, really. At first we put the baby in front of her and she turned her face and didn’t want to look at her. But she did something

really sweet yesterday. She’s never had a dummy, but she nicked the dummy out of Sadie’s mouth, put it back in her mouth then tapped her on the head and walked away. I’m really excited to see them play together. It sounds like Florence might be coming around to the idea of having a sibling… Yeah. We’re trying to do extra stuff with Florence and take her out to places, just to make sure she doesn’t feel left out. It’s been quite good that people coming over have been bringing Florence a present as well.

Aw! Is Flo talking much now? She’s going “mama”, “dada”, but no sentences or anything. I’m sure when she starts she won’t shut up, so I’m quite happy that she doesn’t speak yet! Are you breastfeeding? I breastfed for the first few days and now Sadie’s on the bottle. I like breastfeeding, but I like the bottle too as I know how much she’s having. Florence lost a lot of weight when I breastfed her. I think where I’ve had a breast reduction a lot of my ducts don’t work. I didn’t want to risk that again with Sadie.

Are you nervous about juggling two children? I don’t know what I’m going to do the first day I have both the kids on my own! With one I had time to sit down, but I don’t think I’m going to have any time to now. I won’t have time to do anything. My house is going to be a permanent mess. You said before you suffer from mum guilt. How will you deal with that now? I’m going to try to manage it differently this time. With Florence, I didn’t have help and I tried to work and look after her at the same time, which is where the mum guilt came from. I’d put her on a play mat and just leave her while I worked. Now I have my mum with me two days a week and I’m going to start Florence at a nursery a couple of mornings. When my mum’s here I’m going to work and when she’s not here I’m going to be with the kids. I think I’ve learnt a lot. Nobody knows what to do until you have children. You wing it every day. Would you like more? It would be nice, but I definitely need some time to go out with the girls and go on holidays. I also think it’s really important to do holidays and date nights without the kids. That’s what we didn’t do enough of the first time around, having time for just us. I feel like you can really lose your relationship and that’s why a lot of relationships crumble when you have children. Sleep deprivation is massive. A lot of people split up when they have children because it’s hard work. And women can get really resentful of men. They go back to work and get their life back, while women don’t. Did you feel any resentment towards Dane? I did last time. But not this time because Sadie’s sleeping! Has Dane been helping with Sadie during the night? [Laughs] No. Dane sleeps in our bed and I’m in the spare bed. Dane’s got Florence because sometimes she wakes up in the night. That’s the deal. He has to get up with Florence and I’ve got the baby. How are your wedding plans coming along? Well, if we do have more children I’d rather have them all there… If I just had Sadie and Florence there and then had some more children it wouldn’t be fair. How would you describe your dream wedding? I keep changing my mind. I definitely want to go abroad. I don’t know if I want a formal sit-down dinner – it’s so boring. I’d just have a massive party. What advice would you give to mums who’ve recently had a baby and want to get back into fitness? Take it slowly because your body has just gone through a massive transformation and your hormones are everywhere. People think you can get back into shape really quickly, but it took nine months to grow a baby, so it takes time for your

body to go back. My hips are wide at the moment and my belly still hasn’t gone down. I still look like I’m pregnant! Did you put on a lot of weight? I put on four and a half stone with Florence, but this time I put on just over three. I was craving sweet things, but I also kept getting the urge to lick concrete, like the grout in the shower. Every time I was in the shower I kept looking at it, tempted. Your body’s craving the salts and minerals. You’ve said before that Dane struggled with having a newborn. How’s he been this time around? Much better. Because I was so ill the first time, he got thrown in at the deep end having to do everything. This time, because I’m not ill, it’s just so much nicer. Has having kids made you closer? Definitely. We were close anyway, but when you have kids you either create a great bond or you hate each other and split up. Don’t get me wrong, there were times when I hated him, but we’re great. I feel like having another child makes you more of a family. Have you had any messages from your friends Sam Faiers or Luisa Zissman? Yeah, they sent messages of congrats, which is really nice. I’ve limited my visitors this time round. And is your mate Vicky Pattison coming over to see the baby? Yes, she is. She texted me when I was due, because her sister was due the day after me.

You’ll be moving into your new family home soon. Are you excited? Hopefully it’ll be our forever home and we want to do some work to it. I really can’t wait to create the nurseries – they’re what I’m most excited about. Are there any TV plans in the pipeline for you? There are a couple of things, but I’m not allowed to talk about them yet! And do you have any other plans for 2020? I would like to build on my Yoga Blitz plan, which I really love. The TV work would be great if it comes off and I’d really like to go on some girls’ holidays too!

GEMMA M CCARTNEY

‘I GOT CALLED A WHALE WHILE I WAS PREGNANT – IT’S ABUSE’ I got trolled during my pregnancy with Sadie because I got so big. I was called an “oil rig” and was told, “You need to go down the gym and lose some weight.”

I had it while I was pregnant with Florence too – I got called a “whale that needs to be harpooned”. I’m lucky I’ve got such a great support system with Dane and my family. It’s never nice and it’s verbal abuse, but how do you monitor it? Instagram was going to turn off all comments, If they did, it would mean a lot less trolling. As a mum, social media worries me for my daughters. But by the time they’re older it’s not going to be Instagram any more, it’s probably going to be something else.

Dane doesn’t like me posting much on social media, but I do think it’s the world we’re living in. I totally back new’s Turn Off Trolls campaign – we need to do something to make it stop.

‘I was craving sweet things, but I also got the urge to lick concrete!’