Rebekah Vardy says it’s ‘really hard’ as she admits ‘the kids are so sad’

Rebekah Vardy has been busy lately, with one of her children playingfully placing two glittering red reindeer antlers on her head. The 42 year old, who shares Olivia, four, Finley, seven, and Sofia, ten, with her Leicester City striker husband Jamie (and also has Taylor, 14, and Megan, 19, from a previous relationship), has been juggling family life with writing her no-holds-barred newspaper column about I’m A Celeb, as she tells OK!.

Danny Jones was declared King of the Jungle on Sunday night, and Coleen Rooney, Becky’s arch-nemesis, took second place. Despite remaining tight-lipped about Coleen, Rebekah opens up about her bittersweet festive plans, a boozy new collaboration with her old I’m A Celeb campmate Dennis Wise, inspired by her husband’s own recipe, and the couple’s ‘ legendary house parties’.

Rebekah, are you feeling festive? How’s Christmas look at the Vardys?

I grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness, so we didn’t celebrate Christmas. Now, we make it extra special for the children. We go mad on decorations, but not on presents – that’s not what Christmas is about. Having the kids away from school means creating memories and traditions that the children will incorporate into their lives when they are also involved in families.

Does Jamie’s work ever make this time of year hard?

Oh it’s so hard when you’re in football. Football is our favorite holiday holiday. Jamie’s pretty much away the whole of Christmas. It’s really hard – and really hard for the kids, but at the end of the day, that’s his job and we’re so proud of him. Control the controllables, I always think. You simply must make do. He won’t make it to Christmas dinner, but we’ll have him for a short while. He’ll then spend Christmas Eve training before traveling to Liverpool where they play at 8 p.m. on Boxing Day, so he won’t be back home until the early hours of December 27.

It must be tough for him, leaving…

He finds it harder than I do, as he’s the one that has to say goodbye. I’m at home with the kids. But it’s not the same without him. When he must leave, the atmosphere actually changes. The children are devastated. But because my dad Carlos is insane, he’s here to lift everyone up and cause total carnage!

Tell us about your new vodka collaboration with Denis Wise, which was inspired by Jamie…

Many years ago, it’s well-documented (it’s in Jamie’s book!) that we kept at home to make Skittles vodka. We leave the vodka in the fridge for a few weeks before serving the sweets. We’d go to Costco and buy massive multi-packs of different sweets, separate them into different colours, then whack them in the vodka!

What inspired you to develop this concept? !

We wanted something different, and we do like to experiment with alcohol with our friends, so I believe it was one of those crazy situations. We’re renowned for throwing the best parties – the Vardy’s know how to have a party! They are very popular. We just love having fun, life’s too short – and you never know what’s round the corner.

And why did Jamie serve as a source of inspiration?

It was one of the main drinks around Leicester’s Premier League title-winning season. It was once consumed by everyone around our house. The night they won the Premiere league, we served it at home, so that was it – it became our drink. Now, that party was… insane. It’s almost ten years ago now, but when people ask me about it, I still get goosebumps. A truly close-knit team, I must say. To do something so special in the world of football was magical because they were always the underdogs – Jamie has always been cast as the underdog. And boy, did we celebrate. The party of the century was attended by all the young people at our house.

Who’s the biggest partier, then – you or Jamie?

You know, the older I get, I can’t do it! It’s so hard with kids as well – you’re still getting up early in the morning. You can’t do what you used to. As the saying goes, I may be able to party like a rock star, but I sure can’t recover like one.

You and Denise collaborated on this bottle of vodka. You got on well in the jungle, didn’t you?

Oh, we’re so close. We met on Im A Celeb in 2017, because obviously Denis had history with Leicester – bosses were probably thinking we were going to clash, personality-wise, fall out, argue. We quickly developed into such close friends that we completely matched up. We’ve stayed in touch, our families go on holiday together… That’s what made that series so special for me. You break those bonds, too.

What are your stand-out moments from the show?

The whole experience. You know what it’s about, but you never realize how difficult it is until you do. I went in thinking, this is going to be a walk in the park – they’re going to give me back-handers of bananas, jelly beans… Oh my word. It’s nothing like that. It’s so hard. You have a lot of time to reflect on life and reflect on things. The boredom is a killer! Especially when the weather’s miserable. But we got on really well, I still look back on it as an incredible experience.

You’ve had your fair share trolling over the years. How are you going to handle that?

With cyber-bullying so rife, it needs to be tackled. People must hold themselves accountable for their actions more frequently. The situation appears to be eroding from control. Initially, I found it really difficult. How is it possible to criticize someone who is completely stranger? Anyone in the public eye is a huge target, as I frequently see it. But the older I got, the more I realised what was important. And what some obscene keyboard warrior might say about me, my family, or my personality is not important to me. I guarantee, they wouldn’t say these things to my face!

Do you worry that your children will develop in a social media era?

It petrifies me. I’d like to stop using social media for a minimum age and turn the clock back. Kids these days are way too focused on what’s online. With our kids, Jamie and I are very disciplined. After they’ve drank their iPads, completed their homework, and gotten ready for bed, they can only use them for an hour. Obviously my eldest, Megan, is nearly 20 so I don’t have control of what she does. But what she has seen me go through is really important to her.

In what sense?

Someone will always have an opinion on you, which is taught to her because you can be the nicest person in the world. Because it won’t happen, you can’t expect everyone to like you in life. And that’s OK. As long as you’re true to yourself and stand up for what you believe in, you’re respectful and have great manners, that will get you everywhere in life.

You’re looking fab – fans have said you look like Cheryl…

Well, I really keep myself busy and try to look after myself. There aren’t enough hours in the day, though! I did see that about Cheryl. Well, she’s a stunning girl so I take that as a huge compliment.

Any big plans for 2025?

I don’t do New year’s resolutions, they’re a load of crap – if I have goals, they’re all year round. But there are exciting things in the pipeline that, annoyingly, I can’t talk about yet – sorry! My main focus is on the new vodka. We’re talking to big international distributors, we want to make it a huge success. Watch this space for more information about the upcoming release of a few new flavors and possibly a new spirit with sweets!

SK-TL Vodka is available in three delicious flavours, strawberry, lemon and Orange (RRP £25). See https://sktl.co.uk

Source: Mirror