Archive June 9, 2025

Former Love Island star Alex Bowen opens up about feeling ‘nervous’ about welcoming baby number two with wife Olivia – and why her second pregnancy has had its share of heartache

One of the many dads across the country who’ll be celebrating Father’s Day this Sunday is Alex Bowen – and with another baby on the way, this one is bound to be extra special. The reality star, 33, and his wife Olivia are one of Love Island ’s biggest success stories, meeting on the ITV2 show in 2016 and remaining strong ever since. The couple are already parents to son Abel, who turned three this week, and are now getting ready to welcome a baby girl.

But it’s not been an easy journey as Olivia, 31, originally fell pregnant with twins before the couple were told that they’d tragically lost one of their babies at eight weeks, something Alex admits was “really difficult”. Here, speaking exclusively to OK!, he shares his nerves at becoming a dad for the second time, reveals the family’s Father’s Day plans – and, as another series of Love Island begins, he shares the real secret to finding lasting love on TV…

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Hi, Alex! You and Olivia are expecting a baby girl soon, how are you feeling?

I’m excited! To be honest, I was a little wary about the possibility of another boy, because I love my son more than anything. But now that I know we’re having a girl, I think it will be like two completely different loves. It wouldn’t have mattered what gender we had, but having a boy and a girl is the dream, so, I can’t wait. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little bit nervous because I held one of my friends’ babies recently and I forgot how small they are, it scared me! But I think it’s different when it’s your child, you get into the swing of things when they’re here. I’m excited to have two little ones running around.

Olivia sadly lost one of the babies, how did you navigate that?

Yeah, it has been tough. It’s a shock to find out that you’re having twins, so we were really scared when we found out. I remember being on the way home from a scan, thinking I couldn’t wait to see our three kids in the back of the car – imagining the twins there. I built it up in my head thinking it was 100% happening, so, when we found out that we had lost one, it was really difficult. It’s hard to navigate because you’ve got one healthy baby in there, which you have to focus on, but you’ve also lost one. It was a really weird time, but now we have to focus on the little girl that’s coming. That’s the main thing.

Olivia had a difficult labour with Abel, does that make you nervous for this one?

Yeah, it does, but I was nervous the first time. We’ve spoken to a lot of people that have been through similar things and they say that if you’re really stressed about it, it can make the birth worse. So you’ve got to try and be positive and relaxed – it helps it go smoothly, I guess. I am nervous, but we’ve just got to take every day as it comes. Not that I’m an expert on births!

Is Abel looking forward to being a big brother?

He loves it already. Every morning he gives Liv’s belly a kiss and says, “There’s baby sister in there.” He’s really, really good with babies anyway – when we see friends and family with babies he’ll stroke the baby’s cheek with the back of his hand and is really gentle. He’s such a sweet boy.

Do you think you’ll be protective of your little girl?

Oh, yeah. I’m completely protective of Abel, so God knows what I’ll be like when I have a girl. She’ll be my little princess. So, I feel like I’m going to be extra protective. But also not too much because when she gets older she’s not going to want a protective dad all the time!

Have you decided on a name yet?

Oh, God, no, it’s such a struggle for a girl! I’ve got my favourite, but then it changes and we’ll be like, “I’m not too sure now.” I keep going on different websites and looking through thousands of names, but you don’t want a name that you associate with someone else or that’s going to get them bullied at school, either. We’ve got three names we’re quite stuck on, but I think when we see her, we’ll know straight away, hopefully.

How will you be spending Father’s Day?

It will be quite chilled. Me and Liv have always planned quite extravagant things for each other, but, as we’ve got older, I think just being at home or going for a nice meal as a family, taking the kids to the park or whatever, that’s the best thing. Liv actually bought me a mug for Valentine’s Day, which said ‘Daddy’s special mug’, but it didn’t come for around two or three weeks. So I assumed it was for Father’s Day, I thought it had already been and gone!

Love Island is now back on our screens – is there a secret to finding love on the show like you did?

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I was on that show. I’m nearly 34 now and I was on it when I was 24, I feel old! When you see people come out of it and then split up, everyone tarnishes it saying, “Oh, no one lasts from Love Island .” Truth is, people split up all the time in day-to-day life, whether they met on TV or not. You can just get sick of people.

I’m just lucky that me and Liv really got on and she’s put up with most of my rubbish for all of these years! We were meant to be together. We do argue, but it never really gets any worse than that – I feel like there’s no point throwing anything away. In today’s society, it’s so easy to jump on a dating website or think the grass is greener when it’s not. Liv and I aren’t quitters – we work on our relationship all the time.

Kerry Katona has made a fresh plea to her ex husband Brian McFadden, admitting she ‘wishes’ the pair could have remained friends following their 2004 split.

Kerry Katona has admitted how she ‘wishes’ she could have remained friends with ex-husband Brian McFadden following their 2004 break up. The couple dated from 1999 and wed in a stunning Ireland ceremony three years later, before splitting after two years of marriage.

She shares daughters Molly and Lilly-Sue with the Westlife singer, with whom she has famously had a jaded relationship since splitting. Writing in her weekly New! Magazine column, Kerry spoke about Coldplay singer Chris Martin’s recent split from Dakota Johnson and his co-parenting relationship with ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow, comparing it to her own experiences with Brian.

“I was sad to read about Chris Martin and Dakota Johnson’s split, I thought they made a nice couple. It’s amazing how Chris and his ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow have managed to co-parent their kids and stay friends. I take my hat off to anyone who can do that,” began Kerry.

She continued: “I wish Brian and I could have stayed friends. Molly went to watch him at a festival last week and I would have loved to have gone with her. Brian’s fiancée is lovely and they’ve got a gorgeous little one. It would be great to have a better relationship.”

Kerry is also a mum to Heidi, 18, and Max, 17, who she shares with second husband Mark Croft, and youngest daughter DJ, ten, who she welcomed with late husband George Kay.

Previously, Kerry has referred to Brian as the ‘only man she’d ever loved’, while Brian – who is now engaged to Danielle Parkinson- told the Independent in 2007 that early on in the relationship he hadn’t thought about whether he wanted a long-term future with Kerry.

He said that life “ran away” with him, saying: “So then, when we had the first baby, bought a house, spent time together and Westlife became the same thing over and over, I woke up one morning and realised, ‘This is not what I want to do with my life, I don’t see myself being with this woman in 20 years, she’s not who I’m meant to be with, we don’t have anything in common’.”

Kerry said in 2019 that the split left her ‘shattered’, writing in her column: “I remember feeling shattered when my first marriage broke down and I was left with two baby daughters. It’s one thing being heartbroken by the loss of a relationship, but add to that the guilt of being a mum and it’s so hard.”

She added: “[I’ll] never forget the sadness of feeling like I couldn’t make Brian love me enough to keep our family together.” Kerry went on to share in the magazine column at the time that it took her a “long time” to “get over that”.

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Peter Andre has spoken out on his near-two decade age gap with wife Emily MacDonagh, recalling one particular mistake which made their difference in age very noticeable.

Peter Andre has addressed his age gap relationship with wife Emily MacDonagh, who is 16 years younger than him. The couple have been married since 2015 and share three children; Amelia, Theo and Arabella.

Writing in his weekly New! Magazine column, the Mysterious Girl singer said that the dynamic ‘works’ for them and quipped that age is just a number, but did recall one incident where the gap was more prominent.

Taking to his column, Peter began by addressing 67-year-old Stephen Fry’s marriage to Elliott Spencer, who is three decades his junior at age 38. Admitting that he’s not one to judge, Peter wrote: “Actor Stephen Fry has talked about the 30-year age gap in his relationship with his partner, Elliott Spencer.

“It all depends on the relationship, how the partners are with each other and how they view things, I think. There’s a 16-year gap between me and Emily, and it really works for us,” he explained.

That’s not to say the age gap goes unnoticed, as Peter continued: “There’s one thing we do laugh about, though… We were at the Pride of Britain awards one year and Jon Bon Jovi came over to chat. I’ve met him many times over the years and he’s a lovely person.

He introduced himself to Emily and after he walked away, she turned to me and said, “Who was that?” I was like, “Are you serious? It’s Bon Jovi.” In the most confused but innocent voice, she said, “What’s a Bon Jovi?”

“We laughed about that a lot afterwards! It’s in those moments we may realise the age gap –usually with music and films – but in general, we love the same things. I think it’s what works for you in a relationship. Who are we to judge?”

The couple first met when the latter was 20 and Peter 36, but didn’t begin dating for two years. They were introduced through Emily’s dad, Dr Ruaraidh MacDonagh, a consultant urologist.

Peter was undergoing kidney stone removal surgery in 2010 performed by Ruaraidh, and he later met Emily – at the time a medical student – through the doctor.

The couple started dating in 2012 went on to marry three years later in a beautiful ceremony at Mamhead House and Castle in Devon.

Now parents to their three children and Emily a stepmum to Peter’s kids Junior and Princess, the family keep their three youngest kids’ faces away from social media and are relatively private online.