Rosanna Davison is a model, author and TV personality, but first and foremost she’s a mum. She and her husband Wes Quirke are parents to three children under the age of five. Sophia is four-and-a–half and twins, Hugo and Oscar, are three, so her household is a busy one. While it may be manic at times, Rosanna loves seeing the trio develop and move through their different stages of childhood, but she notes that girls are very different to boys! Since becoming parents, her relationship with Wes has matured and the nature of their 10-year marriage has also changed. Here, Rosanna gives a glimpse into their home life in Dublin, why she’s not raising them on a vegan diet, and what her kids call her parents.
Read more: Rosanna Davison jokes having separate bathrooms is the key to her 10 year marriage
Read more: Rosanna Davison and husband Wes wanted to be equals in parenting and decision making with their kids
In general, as a mum, is it hard to make time for yourself with three young kids? Life must be very full-on.
The last few years have been intense and I put aside a lot of my own life to dedicate myself to the children. Wes was great during Dancing With The Stars , he took them on the weekend. You learn a lot about how to push yourself and what is comfortable. I knew it would be nerve-wracking to dance on live TV, but I still did it.
How do the children get on with each other, and how do they interact at home?
They’re the best of friends one minute and fighting the next! That’s normal for kids, I guess. It’s a privilege to watch identical twins growing up together because you see their friendship. They pine for each other when they’re not together, like when one of them is off sick from school. They’re always competing with each other, they probably don’t even realise they’re doing it. They’re always competing for my affection. They’re so affectionate and they’re total mummy’s boys. They always want to be cuddling me, playing with me and sitting on my knee. I love all of that. One of them sleeps in the bed with us. You do whatever you have to to get some sleep [laughs]. It’s a really fun stage even though it’s full-on and there’s drama, mess, tantrums and fights. They’re able to understand everything we say now and they can communicate with us. We can bring them to restaurants and take them on holiday.
How was your time on this year’s Dancing With The Stars ?
I definitely felt the comedown for a couple of weeks afterwards, I was just exhausted. It’s hard to explain the intensity of the whole process unless you’ve done it. I trained for about three months from start to finish and I had to give a lot of myself both physically and mentally. I was finding myself more and more tired towards the end and I had less energy to give the kids when I got home from rehearsals. I loved being part of the show though.
Have you any regrets about your time on the show or signing up?
No, not all. I went onto the show so I could have my own little project away from home life with the kids. I’ve a bit more time to work now they’re in school. I wanted to build up my confidence again after having three babies in such a short amount of time. I wanted to gain a bit of my old self back and remember what I used to love to do. I really got all of that, and more. The show taught me that you can do something terrifying and brand new and out of your comfort zone. I’ve done catwalk and live TV before, so they weren’t the scary parts. It was more about coordinating the technical side of things while performing to a camera. There were so many technical parts that I had to learn in a short amount of time. It was an entertainment show and we all got into the spirit of it.
Having such a small age gap between Sophia and the twins means they will hit all their milestones quite close together. Does that make it easier or is it harder because each stage is nearly hitting you all at once?
Sophia is very different from the twins. You can see the difference between boys and girls. She’s definitely more mature and less physical. She’s happy to sit down and do some drawing and she’s happy to sit down for meals. I’m able to bring her to the supermarket and she helps me at home. There’s a big difference between raising girls and boys! Each stage does go fast and you’re trying to catch up with yourself and with them the whole time.
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Is it better now they’re able to communicate and you can bring them out and about more?
We used to have to pack up the car with the push chairs, spare clothes and changing bags. Things get a little easier once they’re potty trained. At the same time, because they can communicate more, they’re also very bossy. Their demands are more intense. They’re demanding things all the time [laughs]. There are positives and negatives with each stage and you have to take them as they come and do your best. My main advice is to enjoy the good parts and do your best to get through the harder parts.
It’s always harder when they learn the word “no” and what it means.
Oh yeah! They’ve started to say “I don’t want to go to school”.
You’ve teamed up with Human Collective for a brand new summer range. Can you tell us more?
I’ve known the founder, Conor Buckley, for more than 20 years. We were in UCD together. I was familiar with the brand and I love that it is Irish and its values are all about sustainability and human equality. I love that it’s vegan certified and it’s made of organic cotton. The clothes are beautiful quality, but also really wearable and functional. As a busy mum I live in hoodies, leggings and comfy clothes. That’s my uniform for getting up in the morning, going on the school run and heading to the gym.
It’s 10 years since you and Wes got married, what do you recall and what stands out from your wedding day?
We really enjoyed it and we had all of our friends and family around us. I can’t believe that 10 years have passed – it feels like half of that. It’s been quite a whirlwind with having three babies so close in age.
We’re grateful for the time we had together before the kids came along. We had a lot of fun together and we travelled as much as we could. I’m grateful that we’re still here 10 years later and we’re still a good team. The nature of your relationship does change when kids come along and you’ve less time together as a couple and you’ve less time to dedicate to date night. Unless you’re really organised, which we’re not! I’ve found that we’ve become more supportive of each other now that we’re parents. We give each other space to be independent as adults as well.
Has your relationship matured over the last decade?
Relationships always go through different phases, don’t they? You get past the honeymoon stage and then it’s into a new stage. Getting married makes things feel a bit different, your relationship feels more solidified and you feel more grown-up. If and when children come along, if that’s what you want as a couple, it changes the way you think. You’ve to put aside decisions for yourself and make decisions for your family instead. Life becomes about them and not us. The weekends are about getting up early, getting them out and going on play dates and adventures.
What kind of dad is Wes?
He’s really hands-on. I was so lucky that I could go off every weekend for Dancing With The Stars , and that was intense for him to take over all of the parenting. He did a brilliant job taking over. He’s very capable and he can do everything from taking them to the playground to bringing them for meals. That’s what we wanted as a couple going into parenthood, we wanted to be equals in parenting and decision making. My work is more flexible so I do the school runs, but once Wes is home from work he takes over and plays with them. He’s the fun one.
Are you the bad cop then, making them go to school?
Yeah, I’m the one who makes them eat their vegetables. He sneaks them treats.
Are you raising them vegan?
They love salmon, eggs and cheese. I want them to have a very balanced diet and lifestyle. They have “treat Friday” at preschool, so they bring their treats in their lunchbox and they do baking. I wanted to reflect the childhood that I had. I love getting them outside, on their bikes, at the playground and on walks. I don’t want them growing up with any restrictions.
What do they call your parents?
My mom is “Ga” and my dad is “Bam bam”. Sophia couldn’t pronounce their names, so she came up with those names. They’re much cooler than granny and grandad. It happened very organically.
Now you’re a parent yourself, do you appreciate everything your mum and dad did for you growing up a bit more?
You realise how much they sacrificed and how expensive it is to have kids. I don’t know how many times I thanked them for everything they did for me and my brothers as kids. Even as you get older, your parents still see you as their child. You never stop being a mom or a parent no matter what age your kids are.
Your dad is celebrating 50 years in music this year. That’s inspiring!
It’s an inspiration to see how long he’s been in the business. He’s still making music and he’s still touring. He’s got a fanbase across the world. He was in Berlin recently, he rewrote the songs for Robin Hood for a tour that’s going across China and Germany. Apparently Robin Hood is really popular in China! There’s no stopping him and he has no plans to retire any time soon.
Does he try to get the kids involved with singing or playing instruments?
They do dancing in school and I just signed Sophia up for afterschool lessons because she was obsessed with Dancing With The Stars . She’s a bit of a performer. Dancing is great for staying fit and for building confidence. Hopefully, the boys will get interested as well.
It’s 20 years since you won Miss World, what are your memories of that achievement?
It doesn’t feel like 20 years. It’s still as fresh in my head as anything. You work with Miss World for a full year after you win the title. I put my college degree on hold to travel the world. I was only 19 and 20 at the time and I spent a lot of time in China, America and across Europe. It went to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and I walked in Beijing Fashion Week. I did a lot of charity work, especially for children’s charities. It was an amazing experience for a young person, although I thought I was so grown-up back then.
Human Collective x Rosanna Davison Spirit of Summer Collection is available at wearehumancollective.com and St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, Dublin 2.
This interview appeared in the June issue of RSVP Magazine
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