Former Made in Chelsea star Binky Felstead has spoken about her anxiety as she prepares to give birth having been diagnosed with a serious complication. Binky is to have her new baby at the Lindo Wing at London’s St Mary’s Hospital, famous for its royal births, and has already picked the date and doctor – Tom Setchell. His father, Sir Marcus Setchell, delivered Binky and her siblings.
“That’s quite cool, isn’t it?” says Binky, 32. “Tom has delivered both my children. I’m terrified of pain and like to be organised, so I’ve planned everything as much as I can," she told OK! Magazine. "I’ve booked my induction like I did with the other two, and my husband Max has already secured his parking space. I feel safe and secure in what I’m doing and just pray it goes that way, although I saw a spiritualist who said he’ll come two weeks early”
Binkky was once famed for her glamorous lifestyle full of friendship dramas and relationship struggles on E4’s Made In Chelsea, but left the show in 2017 to focus on her daughter India, now five.
Binky is pregnant with her third child, her second with husband Max
“Motherhood was the making of me,” says Binky – now married to entrepreneur Max Darnton, with whom she shares 20-month-old Wolfie.
“Before I had my children I had no idea what I was doing with my life. I was having fun but I had no substance. I’ve gone from being a 20-something party girl, drinking until I fell over then waking up with anxiety attacks and getting cheated on, to a mum of nearly three.
“I get asked questions all the time about blended families, co-parenting and what I went through with my miscarriage. There’s no better way [to answer] than putting it all into a book.”
Binky says becoming a mum has been the making of her
Binky, who suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage at 12 weeks before having Wolfie, discovered she was pregnant with her third child while honeymooning in the south of France weeks after her Corfu wedding last July.
“We got pregnant as soon as we got to France,” she recalls. “My boobs are always the first sign. Max rushed out and got a pregnancy test and it came up with the French word for pregnant, ‘enceinte’. We were frantically Googling what it meant and burst out laughing and hugged.
“What’s different with this pregnancy is when I was pregnant with Wolfie, I was so anxious at every scan, as it happened just a month after I miscarried. I was constantly checking for blood on the tissue every time I went to the loo and couldn’t feel him kicking, but this one’s kicking all the time.”
Binky with husband, Max daughter India and son Wolfie (Image: INSTAGRAM)
Doctors have diagnosed the star with a low-lying placenta, which means there’s a higher chance she could bleed during the later stages of pregnancy or birth. “If I start bleeding at all I have to go straight to the hospital to get a Caesarean,” she said.
For the most part, her pregnancy has been straightforward, she said: “My bum is ten times bigger as I can’t exercise much due to the placenta. Luckily Max loves my big bottom!”
Self-confidence doesn’t come naturally for Binky. As a kid, she wore big round glasses and train-track braces, and suffered with acne so badly she kept concealer in her bra in case she brushed past someone who removed her make-up. She also recounts one group of teenagers who made posters of her face with “rat tail hair and chicken legs” and put them up around school.
The Made in Chelsea star has been diagnosed with a low-lying placenta
She started counselling aged 16 and has never really stopped. “I used to cry every morning without fail in the school’s chapel,” she tells us. “I couldn’t sing the hymns because I was crying so much. Nobody spoke to me.”
Naturally, Binky worries about her children being subjected to the same abuse. “India is in Year One now and I’m always watching out for any bullying,” she says. “I’m a Tiger Mummy! Someone called her a loser last year and I was like, ‘Excuse me!’ to this little boy. I have to be careful I don’t get too involved.”
While parenting has enriched Binky’s life, doing it in the public eye hasn’t been easy. “After India was born it was really weird. I’d have four paps outside my house,” she says. “They followed us everywhere, which is scary enough when you’re putting a new baby in the car. They were going over red lights, almost running people over on the crossings. It got really nasty. Obviously, you kind of sign up to that when you join a TV show but it made me really nervous that I was going to crash, or what were they going to say if I got the baby out of the car seat the wrong way.”
Binky says she hates the term 'blended family' as her unit is 'just a family'
Her biggest challenge has been learning how to co-parent. She says handing India over for weekends was gut-wrenching and isn’t much easier today.
“Those days were hard – her leaving me and navigating my life without her,” she says. “India understands now, but when she was young it was heartbreaking as she didn’t know what was happening. I used to do small things, like draw a little heart on her hand, or when she got back home I’d make sure her room was exactly as she left it, like her dolls having a tea party, so it didn’t feel like she was coming back to a different environment. It’s so confusing for their little heads.
“I don’t know what I’d have done if Max hadn’t come into my life. I would have been a wreck. It makes me teary thinking about it.”
Sex is an important part of their relationship, too. “Sex can be scary after having a baby,” she admits. “A glass of wine or two helps, especially if it’s the first time. If I put on something sexy, Max would burst out laughing, that’s just not very me. Kissing is important – after having sex you feel so much closer.”
The couple are preparing for their babymoon in Oman, but Binky is more excited about the chapter that comes next. She says, “It’s our first trip without the kids. But I just want the baby out now. I’m looking forward to getting into a little routine with the new one and watching them all play together. I’ve always wanted a big crazy family. I feel like I’m living my dream.”
The Making of You by Binky Felstead is available on Piatkus Books now
