Frankie Bridge has revealed she and her husband Wayne took to spending all their time together in lockdown well, but admitted ‘the novelty wore off’ eventually.
The former Saturdays singer, 31, is mother to sons Parker, six, and Carter, four, with Wayne, 39, and told how she had been ‘dreaming’ of getting to spend more time with the family before quarantine.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, she said: ‘We’re used to spending a lot of time together. Wayne is retired. I’m home more than I used to be.
Married life: Frankie Bridge, 31, has revealed she and her husband Wayne, 39, took to spending all their time together in lockdown well, but admitted ‘the novelty wore off’ eventually
‘When the novelty wore off, we were like, ‘this is a lot of time at home.’ But now, we’ve found our groove. You don’t have to spend all day everyday together even though you’re in the same house.
‘It’s actually been really nice. I was so busy before lockdown, I was dreaming for a day off. It’s been nice to slow down and spend time together. We’ve really enjoyed it.’
Frankie admitted the couple, who married in 2014 after three years of dating, didn’t indulge in too many date nights during lockdown but they did manage to keep themselves entertained.
She said: ‘By the time the kids go to bed and all that stuff, we’re shattered and ready for bed. We ended up doing TikToks and stupid things like that to keep ourselves entertained.’
Happy family: Frankie and Wayne are proud parents to sons Parker, six, and Carter, four
Parenthood: Frankie admitted she had been ‘dreaming’ of getting to spend more time with the family before quarantine
Frankie has been open in the past about her experiences with depression and anxiety, previously revealing she suffered a breakdown during the height of her singing career with The Saturdays.
While she found lockdown relatively easy, the star admitted she did have anxiety about it coming to an end.
She said: ‘It wasn’t too bad for me. It took away any of my anxieties. Not leaving the house or not stressing about any social anxieties or anything like that.
‘My anxiety was more about coming out of lockdown. Change is hard. I am someone that suffers from anxiety and there will be people who won’t suffer from it usually that will at the moment. You just have to be kind to yourself right now.
Frankie said: ‘It’s actually been really nice. I was so busy before lockdown, I was dreaming for a day off. It’s been nice to slow down and spend time together. We’ve really enjoyed it’
‘You just have to accept the rules that are being given. If you stick to those, I think you feel safe and you have to accept that things are put in place to help you feel safe but also, be easy on yourself.’
She added: ‘It’s hard to kind of get up and have a point to each day. To be forced to slow down like that, it takes a while to ease into it.
‘I think it was hard. But after a while I just thought, this is the time to break the routine. We’ve been forced into this situation.’
Frankie told how trying to home school her children was ‘quite stressful’ for the first few weeks but said the kids ‘accepted’ what was happening.
Lockdown: While she found lockdown relatively easy, the star admitted she did have anxiety about it coming to an end
She said: ‘It was quite stressful at the time but we kind of just relaxed a bit. They were alright.
‘They kind of just accept things as they happen and now they are ready to see friends and things like that. Now they really appreciate it when we take them out somewhere fun and exciting again.’
Frankie has co-written the world’s first ‘Eat Along Book’ with Ella’s Kitchen to encourage little ones to explore a variety of tasty finger foods through fun, sensory play at mealtimes.
The book The Munchy Trunks is available to purchase for £2.50 at the Ella’s Kitchen website, as an eBook via Kindle for £1.50 or free as a podcast.
She said: ‘I am someone that suffers from anxiety and there will people who won’t suffer from it usually that will at the moment. You just have to be kind to yourself right now’
All proceeds from the physical book and 35 per cent from the eBook sales will be donated to Flavour School, a charity delivering sensory education for nurseries in the UK.
Speaking about the project, she said: ‘I co-wrote with the Ella’s Kitchen team and we thought it would be a good idea to encourage little ones to have a fun and healthy meal time.
‘It’s an interactive book. All of the money, when you buy the physical book, a percentage goes to our charity Flavour School and their mission is to help kids have a happy relationship with food.’
Frankie’s experiences with raising her two boys helped her when it came to putting pen to paper.
She said: ‘I have one fussy kid and one that will eat anything. The earlier you can get in there and help them with that, it will make a big difference. Especially with the book, you can make it fun.’
Book: Frankie has co-written the world’s first ‘Eat Along Book’ with Ella’s Kitchen to encourage little ones to explore a variety of tasty finger foods through fun, sensory play at mealtimes
New venture: The book The Munchy Trunks is available to purchase for £2.50 at the Ella’s Kitchen website, as an eBook via Kindle for £1.50 or free as a podcast