Lydia Bright admits she ‘feels overwhelmed’ being a single parent due to putting herself under ‘enormous pressure’.
The former TOWIE star, 32, who is a single mother to daughter Loretta, three, admitted she faced ‘mum guilt’ when turning to family and friends for help.
Speaking to Kate Ferdinand on her Blended podcast, Lydia said she ‘doesn’t actually feel like a single parent’ anymore as she has a ‘village’ who helps raise her little girl.
Lydia explained: ‘Sometimes I find things overwhelming. I don’t feel like I’m a single mum, they say it takes a village and my family are incredible. We live so close to each other and they are very hands on as well.
‘I sent Loretta to nursery and I felt so guilty. At times you do have to rely on friends, family and childcare. You can’t achieve everything by yourself but you get mum guilt and put enormous pressure on yourself as a parent when your working and busy.’
‘I never dreamed of being a single mum’: Lydia Bright admits she ‘feels overwhelmed’ being a single parent due to putting herself under ‘enormous pressure’
‘I felt so guilty’: The former TOWIE star, 32, who is a single mother to daughter Loretta, three, admitted she faced ‘mum guilt’ when turning to family and friends for help
Lydia shares Loretta with ex-boyfriend, mechanic Lee Cronin, who she split from when she was 11 weeks pregnant – but now has a ‘great relationship’ with.
She said it is the ‘best thing’ that their daughter never saw them together but did reveal he was in the delivery room when she gave birth.
The TV personality continued: ‘Me and her dad have a great relationship now, we have had our ups and downs but we get on fine.
‘It’s the best thing that we aren’t together and it’s good Loretta has not experienced us together.’
Lydia went on to reveal the hardest part about being a single mother was ‘definitely doing the pregnancy alone’.
She detailed how she ‘was scared’ and ‘petrified’ when she announced the news publicly.
She said: ‘I never dreamed of being a single mum I thought I’d get married and have kids and that is how it goes. You didn’t see the stories back then of the single parents fronting it and being proud of it.
‘I’m so proud to say I’m a single mum but back then I was so nervous that people would judge me. I was petrified.
‘We have had our ups and downs but we get on fine’: Lydia shares Loretta with ex-boyfriend Lee Cronin who she split with when she was 11 weeks pregnant
‘I was petrified’: Lydia went on to reveal the hardest part about being a single mum was ‘definitely doing the pregnancy alone’
‘It’s the best thing that ever happened’: After welcoming her daughter, Lydia said her attitude soon changed and she learnt ‘not really to care what anyone else thinks’
‘The hardest thing was definitely doing the pregnancy alone. I get a bit emotional but she was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
‘But hen I was pregnant I was scared. It was unexpected I never set out to do it by myself and it was hard and I was nervous and heartbroken.’
After welcoming her daughter, Lydia said her attitude soon changed and she learnt ‘not really to care what anyone else thinks’.
She was pregnant alongside a few of her friends who were in relationships and now they have playdates with their kids and she feels no different to them.
Lydia added: ‘Having a child made me not really care what anyone else thinks because at the end of the day you’re the only person living your life and if you let everyone else have an affect, then you’ll never make choices.
‘My mum turned around to me and said, “No bad can come from having a child” and I was like, “You’re so right, it’s a blessing”.
‘I fell pregnant so quickly with Loretta which was so lucky and I was thinking “This is my chance, my body clock is ticking and all I’ve ever wanted is to be a mum”.
‘I had loads of friends around me and all of them were pregnant. I put pressure on myself and I had to face the reality that I wasn’t doing it like the fairytale that I imagined.
‘I actually think the life I’m living now is better than the fairytale I dreamed. It’s the best thing that ever happened.
‘I don’t feel any different with my friends who have kids in couples, on play dates the men aren’t there, we all complain about the same thing. I don’t feel like I’m that different.’
Lydia said she no longer feels ‘lonely’ and that her little girl turned into her ‘best friend’.
She said: ‘Now she is three it’s like having a little best friend and it never feels lonely as I bounce of her now we communicate. I don’t know how I got so lucky.’
‘I don’t know how I got so lucky’: Lydia said she no longer feels ‘lonely’ and that her little girl turned into her ‘best friend’