Anna Williamson, a celebrity go-dating expert, appears to lead a charmed life with her Italian husband and two children, but she claims that her happy ending hasn’t always been easy.
While she’s known for putting famous folk through their paces in the quest for true love on Celebs Go Dating, Anna Williamson isn’t afraid to practise what she preaches when it comes to hard truths and lessons. The presenter and relationship counsellor, 44, is happily married to fitness coach Alex Di Pasquale, and they share two children, but her path to happily-ever-after hasn’t all been smooth sailing.
Anna says she always knew she wanted to become a mum and, in her early thirties, was faced with the prospect of choosing between staying with her then boyfriend who didn’t want children, or walking away from the relationship and “starting again”. “My partner at the time was hesitant about having a family. I knew that from the beginning, and he knew that I really did want a family,” she tells OK! as we sit down for an exclusive catch-up.
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We shared a lot of love for one another, and I believe both of us hoped to find some sort of balance or compromise. But then, we needed to engage in a significant conversation at the end of our five-year relationship.
He had to be very honest and say that wasn’t in his plan, even though I was focused on starting a family at some point in the near future. Both of us were right and wrong, and it was painful, but honesty was also very important. One of us would have been let down by life if we had greenlit either way.
So at 33, working as an agony aunt on This Morning and presenting on Big Brother’s Bit On The Side, Anna found herself single but wanting a baby, and was feeling “desperate”. But, as she now advises many of her clients, she decided to arm herself with knowledge and information rather than make any rash decisions that would come back to bite her years down the line.
She says, “I could have easily chosen the wrong partner just to tick that box.” As a relationship coach, I hear this a lot. Everyone has a propensity for thinking, “Well, if I meet someone now, it’ll probably take so many months before I can try for a baby, and then it might take this long months to conceive.”
We all believed that a traditional path was required, but now that we are aware that there are other ways to go about things, and we have them all.”
Anna, who is currently coaching the likes of Kerry Katona and Mark Labbett on the set of E4’s Celebs Go Dating, describes the timeline planning as a form of “mental maths”, which is often based on outdated ideas of fertility and relationships. Rather than give in to the pressure of the maths, she underwent a host of fertility tests to understand exactly where she stood and what her options might be.
She was informed of her fertility decline, hormone levels, options for freezing eggs, and other information. She claims that the issue is that we don’t talk about fertility enough. We are unsure of our choices. However, having knowledge is power, and I didn’t want to be in a panic.
I was enjoying my career, and I didn’t want to find a relationship just to find one. However, I also understood that I was very important to having children. Therefore, knowing my fertility health meant I had no fear and had all my options available.
Anna joined Celebs Go Dating in 2019, and has coached stars from Ulrika Jonsson and Pete Wicks to Vanessa Feltz and Ella Morgan. While many of the celebs are there to learn the healthy basics of choosing the right partner, she says the topic of having children is one of the most common she hears in her private therapist work.
Anna’s advice to people is clear: talk about it early and honestly, based on her experience, coaching, and training. She says it’s crucial to figure out what their needs are versus what they want, which I tell a lot of clients. Is becoming a parent a need or a desire given that we only have one chance at life?
“If there is a same-sex couple, it’s crucial for the woman to be aware of what she wants and what options she has, and that needs to be shared between the couple.
Because “the rest of our relationship is good,” I see couples having those difficult conversations. However, those crucial discussions are what are most important for dictating your future. Heartbreak should be avoided as soon as possible because it will happen if it does.
Anna claims that she’s seen far too many “fed bull***t” in particular because their partners weren’t completely transparent about having children or didn’t go into enough detail about having children.
Anna is currently working with assisted reproductive technology provider FutureLife and healthcare firm CooperSurgical on their Let’s Talk Fertility campaign, which tackles what she feels are worrying statistics.
According to research, over a third of UK adults see fertility as an “uncomfortable” topic of conversation, and almost half think fertility education should be taught in schools to address that. One person who is about to shine a very bright spotlight on the subject is 44-year-old reality star Gemma Collins.
The former TOWIE favourite, who also took part in Celebs Go Dating back in 2020, announced recently that she’s making an eight-part documentary titled Gemma Collins: Four Weddings And A Baby, as she plans her wedding to fiancé Rami Hawash and takes the first steps towards “starting a family”.
Anna claims Gemma’s sharing of her experience earns her nothing but respect. She says, “You don’t enter any fertility treatment lightly.” Anybody going down that path, regardless of age, should be respected for it because of the financial considerations involved with it as well as the emotional, physical, and psychological challenges that come with them.
There is a lot of stigma attached to fertility at 40, and it just isn’t appropriate. “I really appreciate the fact that she’s putting a spotlight on it. I sincerely wish her the best of luck.
After giving birth to Vincenzo, the first child of her and Alex’s, Anna returned for another fertility test before conceiving her fifth child, Eleanora. She had additional tests last year, so let’s see where she stands with the possibility of a third child.
“I was told that my eggs would probably be dust by now, but I was actually told that I had very good fertility.” Therefore, I could have looked into fertility treatments, possibly creating an embryo, or something else if I did want another baby last year. Even at the age of 44, I still feel very confident knowing where I’m at.
Anna serves as the campaign’s official spokesperson in collaboration with CooperSurgical and FutureLife.
