Parenting can be full of proud moments, but it also comes with its heartaches. For Rochelle Humes, the hardest part right now is watching her eldest daughter, Alaia-May, navigate the ups and downs of secondary school life.
The singer and TV presenter has revealed that her 12-year-old has been facing bullying, something she admits has been tough to watch from the sidelines.
Rochelle, 36, who shares Alaia, along with Valentina, eight, and Blake, four, with husband Marvin Humes, spoke candidly on her Ladies Who Launch podcast about the challenges Alaia is experiencing as she enters Year 8.
“It Brings Out the Lioness in You”
Opening up on her podcast, Rochelle described the situation as “an awful thing” to watch unfold.
She explained how secondary school can be a tricky age, where friendship dynamics shift and peer pressure often kicks in.
“My eldest is 12 – it’s that tricky age when she’s going into the second year of secondary school and I’ve really noticed the dynamics and the changes and how girls are to each other,” she said.
“If I could shield her from anything in life, I would. It brings out this lioness in you.”
Rochelle admitted that while she herself wasn’t bullied growing up, she’s finding it difficult to parent through her daughter’s experience.
Memories of Feeling Judged in Her Own Career
This isn’t the first time Rochelle has spoken about feeling under pressure.
Recently, she recalled how judged she felt when she became pregnant with Alaia at just 23, during her time in girl group The Saturdays.
At the height of the band’s success, Rochelle felt as though she had “messed up” by starting a family so early.
“I remember getting pregnant aged 23 and thinking, ‘I am pregnant and in a girlband, isn’t that against the law?’ I was almost made to feel like I had let everybody down,” she said.
Balancing Stardom and Motherhood
Rochelle described hiding her morning sickness like it was a “hangover” and pushing herself to return to work just weeks after giving birth.
She recalled performing on Good Morning Britain when Alaia was only five weeks old, while struggling with leaking breasts and squeezing herself into Spanx.
Looking back, Rochelle regrets not taking time to truly rest and connect with her newborn.
“Now when I look back, I almost feel annoyed with myself,” she confessed.
“I was so scared of ruining my career that I just kept going, but I didn’t really understand what having a baby meant to me.”
Family Life and New Priorities
Today, Rochelle has embraced both her career and motherhood with a new perspective.
Her children often feature in her social media posts, showing their family holidays and day trips, and her daughters have even become the faces of her inclusive children’s haircare brand, My Little Coco.
Though life is still busy, Rochelle is more open about the struggles that come with balancing it all – from supporting a daughter who’s learning to handle schoolyard challenges to reflecting on her own growth as a mother in the spotlight.