1 week ago
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Dr Emily MacDonagh, married to Peter Andre, has revealed that the secret to their happy household is that they "work to their strengths," and she doesn't criticise his parenting.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk , the 35-year-old admitted she tends to take charge of the planning and organisation of their family's day-to-day life; however, Pete is a "great support."
"He is a great support. I think he would be open in saying that the sort of organisation, the minutiae of the day-to-day, is not his strong point. But that's why I have it all in the diary, and then it pops up as reminders on his phone.
And he is fantastic - he's actually having the kids today. We've done a bit of a swapover. I'm going to work, and he's having the kids, and he will do an absolutely great job.
"I think a lot of the time it is working as a team, which I think we do. We've got different strengths. And he does some things better than me, for certain," she acknowledged.
"But it's also about if he's got the kids for the day, he's doing it his way. And what I try hard not to do is to say, 'Oh, you know, you gave her that feed at the wrong time, well, she should have had her lunch then, or she didn't go to sleep at that time'. Because then what's the point in him doing it if I then criticise it? So I never, I always, always try not to do that just to let him do it his way as their parent as well.
"It kind of sounds obvious, but it's something I think is really important, that if you're going to work as a team, you have to give the other person they have to give you autonomy, and you have to give them autonomy as a parent as well."
The couple has their hands full, having welcomed their third child together, Arabella, in April 2024. She is a sibling for their other two children, Amelia and Theo, and with Peter's two children, Princess and Junior, from his marriage to Katie Price, their brood is now five.
With Emily's role as an NHS doctor and Peter's incredibly busy media and presenting career, she admits it can be hectic but is very rewarding.
"We live in a really lovely village where...we've got lovely neighbours who will help me sometimes pick the kids up from school, or I've got a friend of mine who will help me.
"We don't have a lot of family nearby, but my parents will come and help sometimes, especially if Pete's gone away for a few days or a week. It's like all families, isn't it? I think everyone's in the same boat. It's demanding having young kids. But it's also so rewarding."
Emily is currently still on maternity leave from her job as an NHS doctor. Still, despite all the demands on her time, she isn't one to rest on her laurels, and she is working on a campaign by European Mushrooms to encourage people to eat better and make small lifestyle changes during the dull winter months.
Given her profession, she understands the importance of eating well, but she admitted that she was surprised to learn how nutritional mushrooms are.
"They've got B, vitamins, selenium, vitamin D...and especially this time of year, Vitamin D is really important with the darker longer nights that we've been having. So I think it's a great thing to try and get into your diet as part of your five a day.
"A recent study by European mushrooms found that about 40 or 41% of people don't actually know about the nutritional benefits of mushrooms, which is why I was absolutely so happy to be talking about mushrooms and trying to get the word out there that it's a really budget, friendly, you know, easy way to be getting some more nutrients into your diet."
She also has a solution for parents if children are fussy eaters and won't try them - sneak them into their food. "I do sometimes like to blend up vegetables to hide in certain foods," she admits. "Spaghetti bolognese is the classic one, because it's got all different bits in it already. You can hide things quite well in there. So I do sometimes try and hide courgettes and things in a spag bol. But mushrooms, you can definitely do it with mushrooms, or putting them in soups and things like that," she advised.
Dr Emily MacDonagh is an ambassador for the European Mushrooms Nature's Powerhouses campaign.
English (US) ·