UNA Healy is All Fired Up in our exclusive, no-holds barred chat.
For the first time she addresses those ‘throuple’ rumours and chats the manosphere, new music and The Saturdays WhatsApp group. Buckle up.
Una Healy has opened up to Fabulous Magazine on why she’s happy being single… and the possibility of a Saturdays reunion Credit: Mark Hayman – The Sun Fabulous Magazine
It was three years ago – during one of her spells on Raya – that Una met boxer David Haye, and a ‘situationship’ ensued Credit: Instagram
SHE was part of one of the biggest UK girl groups of the 2010s, with 13 Top 10 singles.
But while her band mates , , and are still firmly in the spotlight, The Saturdays’ has swapped showbiz circles for a much more sedate life.
The 44-year-old mother of two moved back to her hometown of Thurles in Ireland in 2020, following a painful from rugby player .
And these days, she’s more likely to be spotted out in wellies than designer shoes.
“I don’t have any sort of fancy life whatsoever,” she says. “I’m up to my eyeballs with the kids, in a good way. My daughter goes to the same school I went to, so she’s like my mini-me.
“I come over to England and perform, then go home. I’m down to earth and normal, because that’s my life back home. I haven’t changed at all.”
The most important thing for Una is looking after her kids, Aoife, 14, and Tadhg, 11.
“They have full-blown Irish accents now,” she says.
“They are even more Irish than me! When they were little, they had posh little English accents. I kept thinking: ‘This is so weird.’ But they are happy, that is the most important thing. As long as they are OK, that’s all that matters.”
My daughter and her friends looked at me like I’m the Mean Girls mum
after six years of marriage, following reports in 2018 that the former English fullback had cheated on her.
On the day their divorce was finalised, Ben married US socialite Jackie Belanoff Smith, 41, who he got engaged to within weeks of meeting.
The couple had been living in the States, which made childcare difficult for Una as a single parent, so she decided to move back home.
Thankfully, Ben has now relocated back to the UK with Jackie and their two young children.
“Ben, his two kids and wife live in Scarborough now. He’s the director of rugby at Scarborough College. The kids went to America with him to see his wife’s family for the Easter holidays, but I’m the primary carer. Thank god I still have both my parents and they are so hands-on.
“I live in the house that I grew up in,” Una says.
“Then my parents live in a house connected by a path. It’s basically like two houses are joined, so they dip in and out all the time. We all live together, three generations, so my kids have grandparents who are parenting them as well. I had a great childhood, and my kids are having a very similar childhood to me.”
Doing the lion’s share of the parenting means it often falls on her to be the bad cop.
“I have to be strict,” Una admits. “One time, I was telling Tadhg what to do, and I said: ‘I don’t want to be “the mummy” but I have to. Someone has to do it. I want you to turn out to be the best that you can be. You have to know right from wrong.’
“So I’m strict, but I also like to think I’m a bit cool, too. Although I didn’t feel cool when Aoife had her friends over for her birthday. They were getting ready to go to a disco and I was just popping in: ‘Don’t mind me. Do you want any nibbles or anything?’ They’re all looking at me like I’m the mum out of Mean Girls. I felt old! I remember being their age. It doesn’t feel that long ago.”
But surely being one-fifth of The Saturdays makes you pretty cool?
“They don’t care,” she laughs. “They’re not as obsessed with celebrity culture. They are proud of me for being on the cover of a magazine, but they don’t express any sort of interest.”
Una comes from a musical background.
Her uncle Declan Nerney is a famous country star and, after teaching herself guitar, she started to write her own songs, going on to represent Ireland at the as a backing singer for Brian Kennedy in 2006.
But it’s unlikely her kids will follow in her footsteps.
“They’re certainly not wanting to be nepo babies, anyway!” she says.
“Neither of them are into music – they’re both sports-mad. Tadhg plays GAA, loves hurling and soccer and he’s playing rugby this weekend in Wales. Actually, his dad is going to watch him play on Sunday and give his team a pep talk. They’re all excited about that.”
I went on and off Raya a few times – it was like fishing in a swamp
It’s no secret that the teenage years can be a minefield for girls – but Una says she’s confident her daughter would come to her if anything was wrong.
“I like to think she would speak to me.” she says. “I’m always very open with her and she’s very comfortable and wouldn’t hide anything from me.”
Una is currently single and insists she is ‘very happy on my own right now’ Credit: Mark Hayman
Una moved back to her hometown of Thurles in Ireland in 2020, following a painful divorce from rugby player Ben Foden Credit: Getty Images
Una says doesn’t have a single bad word to say about being in The Saturdays Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images
Una, right, in 2008 with the girls (l-r) Frankie Bridge, Mollie King, Vanessa White and Rochelle Humes Credit: Ferdaus Shamim/WireImage.com
Of course, raising a son brings its own set of issues – does she worry about the rise of the manosphere?
“I feel Tadhg’s the polar opposite to the manosphere,” she says.
“He’s nearly as tall as me now, but he loves women, he adores me and his sister – I think it’s because he saw me as a single mum. If I’m ever a little bit upset, he’ll always come and give me a hug and say: ‘It’s OK, Mummy.’
“He’s always been like that. He talks to me about being older, saying: ‘When I have a wife one day, I’m going to treat her so well,’ and how he’ll never cheat on her. I think that’s maybe because he saw what happened to me and his dad.
“I don’t believe he will ever cheat. It’s really cute. He’s very romantic and a bit like me. I’m very passionate and emotional. He takes after me in that department. Aoife’s a little bit cooler and doesn’t talk about her feelings very much.”
Having previously dated jockey Aidan Coleman and Irish singer Darren Flynn, Una is currently single and insists she is “very happy on my own right now”.
“I wasn’t really with Flynn,” she explains. “We just hung out a few times. Flynn’s a very good friend. I haven’t been in a relationship in a long time. I’m enjoying being single, but I do have nights where I think: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone to cosy into?’ However, I know it sounds cliched and corny, but I have all I need at home with my family.
“Sometimes I think I would like that person, but I’m not gonna settle for anyone. I went on and off [celebrity dating app] Raya a few times – it was like fishing in a swamp. I’m working hard on myself, I’m not looking at all. As my friend says: ‘I am gonna attract, not chase.’”
Now The Pussycat Dolls are back, I think we will be, too.
It was three years ago – during one of her spells on the – that Una met boxer , and a “situationship” ensued.
Rumours escalated that they were part of a “” with model Sian Osborne, after a picture of the three of them on holiday was shared – an image Una finds so upsetting, we’ve chosen not to reprint it.
While Coronation Street star recently opened up on ”throuple” rumours with Haye, Una denies she was part of one, saying she had to Google what the word even meant.
“I haven’t had the best track record,” she sighs. “I’ve moved on so long ago from all that. You live and learn in life. I think that I’ve learned now what I don’t want and I’m going to have my non-negotiables, what I will not tolerate or put up with. I don’t want to do the whole situationship thing. I’ve done that, I tried that. It’s not very fulfilling. I’ve actually written a song about it.”
She lights up as she discusses her new music.
“Writing songs is like writing a diary on how I’m feeling at the time. I go through phases of being very inspired. I have to hum into my phone when I get the idea, then I sit down with my guitar. If you listen to the lyrics, you can hear the life I’ve lived in the last year. They’re very honest. No one escapes this life without feeling all the feels. So I write from experience, but I feel that it’s a universal feeling.”
While Una is clearly loving making her own music, there are a lot of The Saturdays fans who are keen to see the band back together. The band announced a hiatus in 2014, but with so many other girl groups reforming, has it inspired them to reunite?
“Well, now The Pussycat Dolls are back, I think if they’re doing it, we will at some point,” she reveals. “We still have The Saturdays’ WhatsApp group and everyone is still in it.”
We still have The Saturdays’ WhatsApp group and everyone is still in it, reveals Una Credit: Mark Hayman
The most important thing for Una is looking after her kids, Aoife, 14, and Tadhg 11.
But rather than reunion plans, it seems the chat is more about swapping baby tips, after Vanessa gave birth to her first child, Sage, in January.
“She’s doing great.
Vanessa’s taken to motherhood so well. We all want to get together to have dinner soon, but it’s not to talk about plans of getting back together. We haven’t been all together in a long time. We meet up individually. I saw Frankie the most recently. We were both at [designer brand] Nadine Merabi’s 10th birthday.
“We just all want to be together, the five of us. So that’s in the works. But apart from that, we haven’t discussed getting [the band] back.”
The band rarely fell out – I was probably the one being annoying!
Obviously, it takes time for reunions to be planned and venues to be booked. With 2027 marking 20 years since the band was formed, is that something to aim for?
“I imagine there’s always a chance it will happen, but I just don’t know when,” she says. “I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t. There’s nobody saying: ‘Oh, I would never do that.’ Everyone is in the same frame of mind. But everyone is just so busy doing their own thing now anyway. They’re all very successful and happy. I’m performing this year at Mighty Hoopla on my own, but I’d much prefer to do it with the girls.”
In fact, Una says, she doesn’t have a single bad word to say about being in The Saturdays.
“I still pinch myself, thinking: ‘Did that actually happen?’ And it opened so many doors for me afterwards. I had a great experience with four other girls who became like sisters.
“We rarely fell out for any reason – I was probably the one being annoying! But it was incredible. I know in the ’90s, girl bands found it hard as they weren’t allowed boyfriends and were told: ‘You can’t do this or that.’
“I don’t remember ever being told we couldn’t do anything, and I had two kids while I was in The Saturdays. We were never told not to have boyfriends or lie about having them. We used to call them the BADs – boyfriends and dogs. I was older than the other girls, and no one told me to lie about my age, either.”
And there’s one more incentive for reuniting: showing her children just how cool their mum is, once and for all.
“I’m sure my kids would love to see us perform together. We had so many bangers, they might be impressed if they saw it first hand,” she says. “Until then, I’m just Mammy!”
- Una’s EP Beating Heart is available to download and stream from Friday.
WHAT WAS THE LAST...
Show you watched? Younger – I really enjoyed it.
Thing you bought? A Cooper hurling helmet for my son from Vinted, as they’ve been discontinued.
Podcast you listened to? Begin Again With Davina McCall.
Person you texted? My childhood friend. We were laughing about the nickname we call each other – “Smarties”, because when we were young she tried to steal my brown Smarties mug from my house.
Time you cried? Listening to my song Lonely Til I Die. I was really sad when I wrote it.
Time you laughed? My sister sent me a funny cat meme last night.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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