Mum guilt can affect you whether you work in showbiz or not as Judi Love knows only too well.
The comedian and Loose Women panellist, who single parents a 17-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son, says she loves her job, but it's hard juggling a career as a single parent. She hopes seeing their mum happy in her career will inspire them to work hard to achieve their dreams.
Judi says: “It’s inevitable, from the job I do now to the job I had before TV, that there’s always that sense of mum guilt. You are trying to balance between being the mum and being the provider in that sense. You are building your own career but also want to help with theirs."
“I try to stay focused and say to them that if you work smart and work hard you can achieve certain things and they are seeing me out there working. It’s fun and a blessing to be doing something I truly love, that can give back to others and give enjoyment. I hope that’s what my kids see. Then when I’m off I try my best to spend as much time with them as possible.”
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BBC)Speaking about her latest role - playing a rainbow-haired unicorn in an upcoming CBBC animation series called Super Happy Magic Forest - Judi, 44, also joked that her cat, Bella, is the real matriarch in the family. She laughed: “Bella is the mamma of this house! This cat will stand at the door and demand things with miaows. She is the glue of this family.”
Her new voiceover part sees her playing hero Blossom, who, together with four other heroes, goes on mini-adventures and quests. The Mighty Boosh’s Julian Barratt, Fresh Meat’s Greg McHugh and comedian Spencer Jones are also the voiceovers for the show, based on the books of the same name by Matty Long. She says: “It’s out of my comfort zone and something new and that’s why I wanted to embrace it.
“It was something new that I hadn’t done and it’s not always that you get these opportunities so I was just really excited. When I read about Blossom, I thought, ‘OK, that’s a bit of me isn’t it?’. That was me. Blossom can come in and be very uplifting and have a right good laugh. She can also be shy sometimes and also worry. I see myself in all those different areas.
“She just oozes being different and herself and she’s OK with being herself like me. The message is everyone is unique and different but when we need to we can come together. We can do something really great and it doesn’t have to be in the box that everyone expects it to be.”
Backing more quality kids' TV, Judi admits she never had to contend with social media when her kids were younger because it wasn’t such a big thing then. She says: “We just didn’t go online when they were really young. My daughter didn’t watch a lot. It was mainly cartoons and specific shows like one with Zendaya in it. They preferred to make things up and do things like dancing competitions.”
Her advice to parents who are struggling? “I say get one of those brick phones and set limits on screens. Also, do your research. Know what it is they’re watching. Watch it with them and show an interest so you can work out if it really is alright.” Judi also admits that like unicorns - a symbol of strength - she has constant support from her pals both on and off screen.
She says: “I’ve got champions inside and outside work. I was having a conversation yesterday about politics and I was like, ‘I need to talk to Charlene and Kaye and Jane about this. If I need to talk to someone about food, I can speak to Gordon Ramsey. If it’s comedy, I can speak to Jimmy Carr, Katherine Ryan or Romesh Ranganathan. It’s such a blessing!”
Super Happy Magic Forest is out now on CBBC and BBC iPlayer
English (US) ·