IT’S quite strange to consider, but if it hadn’t been for Chelsea’s winning streak during their glory days in the Noughties, Christine Lampard and husband Frank might never have gone the distance.
The 46-year-old TV presenter, who started dating the sportsman in October 2009 when he was playing at the club, says he used to be so annoyed by losing, he would cancel dates.
“When he was playing, he used to cancel nights out when didn’t win. Thankfully, it didn’t happen that often, as luckily, Chelsea won a lot!”; she laughs.
“It was actually alright.
“He would be annoyed just because he takes it all so seriously!”;
The football world required quite an adjustment for , who had never been that interested in the sport when growing up in .
“I went to an all-girls’ school, I didn’t have brothers. Football just wasn’t a thing. I couldn’t have cared less,”; she says.
“And then, suddenly, I started to care.
“The more I went to the games, the more I got it.
“I thought, ‘Oh my god, I see why people are into this. There is something magical about it’.”;
And does 46-year-old , who went on to manage Chelsea and is currently in charge of Championship side , still feel as passionately about winning as a manager as he did when he was a player?
“He lives and breathes his job at the minute,”; she admits.
“He really does.
“But he always did, and I love him for it.
“Being a football player is one thing, but being a manager is a whole other level of responsibility and stress, and he takes it on board.”;
Of course, with Christine and their two kids, Patricia, six, and four-year-old Freddie, at home in west and Frank in Coventry, it means the pair have to negotiate a semi-long-distance .
“It’s not as long [as when he managed in 2022]. And he could be in another country, so really, it’s actually been as manageable as you could possibly wish for,”; she says.
“I really have no complaints, as it’s just a two-hour drive.
“He’s actually really enjoying being up there, and the fans have been brilliant.
“He’s doing really well.
“When he took it on, I think they were two points off relegation.
“And then all of a sudden to even be thinking [they could get into the ], that’s massive.”;
The pair, who in 2015 after meeting at an awards do, will celebrate their 10-year anniversary in December.
We love nothing more than just being in the house with the two youngsters and the dog. It’s manic sometimes, but that’s what our happy place is
Christine Lampard
So, what’s the secret to such a harmonious celebrity relationship?
“For me anyway, it was always being in agreement with things – that generally is a good start. Whether it’s big life things, or even silly little things, we’re aligned,”; she says.
“And then also, we still behave like 16 year olds.
“We have a proper giggle and are silly with each other and take the p**s out of each other.
“We have really good fun, and I think we’re a good balance.
“We respect each other’s stuff.
“When he’s doing his thing [I’m at home], and then today, he’s home and I’m doing this shoot.
“We tick along and we have a good laugh most of the time.
“We love nothing more than just being in the house with the two youngsters and the dog.
“It’s manic sometimes, but that’s what our happy place is.
“We don’t need fancy stuff.
“I think that’s really special when you’re happy with simple things like cooking dinner and just sitting down with the telly on.
“All of those things are really special.”;
It hasn’t all been straightforward, though.
When Christine met Frank, he had recently split from model , 50, the mother of his two eldest daughters, Luna, 19, and Isla, 17, and the pair have worked hard to navigate blending their families.
A new survey recently revealed that women are reluctant to date men with children because they don’t want to be seen as “the evil stepmother”;.
Did that ever worry Christine?
“That never crossed my mind,”; she says.
“And isn’t it mad that we think about it still being an issue?
“Kate Ferdinand told me that one in three families in the UK are blended now, so you’d think the language would have changed after all these years.
“But I understand people’s nervousness, of course.
“I didn’t meet Frank’s girls until we’d been together for just over a year.
“And that was thought through, it really was.
“They were very young at that stage as well.
“I didn’t have and I wasn’t desperate for marriage and babies.
“We had a proper courtship, so it allowed us to have that time of not only him and me getting to know each other properly, but also knowing that we were right, before I was introduced to them.
“When I first met the girls, it was all done very naturally.
“I was never ‘Mummy’, as they had a mummy.
“Then it was just normal.”;
Frank is a god-like creature to our son, he wears the same clothes
But Christine does admit it wasn’t always plain-sailing.
“It’s hard for all parties, that’s the truth.
“It can be difficult when there is emotion involved.
“You have to navigate everyone’s feelings and not just think about yourself in order to try to make it a happy ship.
“What I would say is you can absolutely get there.
“Some people have awful times, but then it’s brilliant.
“I think the priority is the children – that’s all I ever cared about.
“I had a very good relationship with them in the role that I was in.
“And that was it, I never stepped out of any boundaries.
“I didn’t want to, as it wasn’t my place to.
“So it’s being respectful, too.”;
As for who is the strictest parent, Christine is in no doubt.
“Oh, definitely me. A hundred million per cent,”; she laughs.
“And Frank does the wrestling, swinging around and throwing them on the sofa.
“That’s their favourite thing.
“He’s fun-time Daddy, I’m the one going: ‘No, no, no, be careful!’ and telling them to brush their teeth.
“Daddy is with them today and I’ll guarantee their teeth are not brushed, but they will have had the best day ever.
“I’m the sensible one getting greens into them.
“There’s no sense of that with Frank.
“My little boy worships him – Frank is a god-like creature to him and he tries to wear the same clothes.
“So if Frank has a baseball cap on, Freddie will put a baseball cap on.
“It’s very cute, it’s complete adoration.”;
As the next generation of football’s famous dynasty – Frank is the nephew of former manager , and the cousin of Jamie – will Patricia and Freddie follow in their father’s footsteps?
“Patricia has gone off football. She’s very into unicorns and drawing now. Freddie loves bashing balls around, but I’m not sure he’s got losing gracefully down at all,”; she laughs.
“Certainly not at the minute – it’s not just a game when it comes to football.”;
‘The kids take the mickey out of Frank’
And do they realise that their parents are famous?
“Yes and no,”; she says.
“If we’re out together, obviously a lot of people want to talk football and ask for pictures with Frank.
“In the earlier days, they’d ask: ‘Why do they want a picture with you, Daddy?’ And we would explain that Daddy played football.
“But it’s become a joke now.
“So every time someone comes up to us, Frank will purposely say: ‘So why do you think they wanted a picture?’ And they’ll roll their eyes and say: ‘Because you score goals.’ They take the mickey out of him.
“Frank took a picture the other day when I was on , and they were looking at the telly and pointing.
“But then suddenly I’m home and cleaning their bums and bathing them, back to being Mummy.”;
As well as standing in on Lorraine, Christine also hosts , which she joined in 2016.
The ITV show, which has just scooped the RTS Award for Daytime Programme and is nominated for a later this month, is going from strength to strength, despite and certain panellists refusing to appear with one another.
“Well, there always have been reports, to be fair. That hasn’t been a new thing,”; she admits.
“And I can honestly swear, I have never, ever experienced anything [like that].
“Actually, I used to joke about it with .
“There would always be magazine covers saying: ‘Such-and-such is at war with such-and-such’.
“I used to joke with her going: ‘Oh my god, I haven’t been at war with anybody.’ And then, weirdly, she sent me a screenshot of one of the magazines that said: ‘Christine at war with Coleen’.
“I said: ‘I’ve finally made it, I’ve got a war!’
“Of course, it was certainly all in jest.
“I couldn’t care who’s on the panel with me.
“I have a great relationship with all the women.”;
‘It’s a privilege to be part of Loose Women’
One woman in particular that Christine is desperate to work with is fellow Northern Irish Loose Woman
She’s been begging producers to put them together for the new Loose Women: The Podcast, in which two panellists have an unscripted chat and answer viewers’ questions.
“We’ve launched the Loose Women podcast – who knew we had more to say?”; she laughs.
“When you are on the show, you’ve got the confines of telly and being told to be quiet, whereas this is very much a conversation.
“It’s a genuine elongated chat about whatever we think is relevant.
“I hate the word ‘organic’, but it’s a very natural conversation.
“It feels lovely, and I think because they’re obviously mixing it up every time.
“I mentioned to one of the producers that I’d love to talk to Gloria about my memories of her growing up and the first time I met her.
“I was her runner on all those years ago.
“I can still remember walking into BBC Northern Ireland and seeing her.
“She’s a proper queen and she remembers everything, so I’d love that.”;
So will there be a huge backstage row over who gets to go to the BAFTAs?
“No!”; she laughs.
“I doubt I’d get to go, and rightly so.
“There are so many of us.
“But we have the WhatsApp group everyone bangs on about.
“It’s just us keeping up to date with each other.
“With the last award, the texts came through straight away that we’d won.
“It’s a privilege to be a part of it.”;
- Loose Women airs weekdays, 12.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX. Loose Women: The Podcast is available now on all podcast providers.
