MUM'S THE WORD
I feared I’d be replaced if I took time off after my baby, says Sian Welby as she reveals how she nearly died on screen
Sian also opens up on body confidence after giving birth
THIS Morning presenter Sian Welby has revealed she only took three months off following the birth of her baby as she put pressure on herself to return to work.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun on Sunday, the 38-year-old admits that after landing her dream career on TV and radio at Capital FM, she was worried about taking time out when she became a first-time mum.
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In a searingly honest interview, Sian — whose daughter Ruby with radio producer Jake Beckett was born in June — also said she has struggled with “dark thoughts” and “mum guilt” which left her swinging between crying with exhaustion and feeling like Superwoman.
She said: “I worried I would be off for a month and they would decide someone else is better and then they would replace me. Those are the dark thoughts you have.
“It’s probably what put me off earlier in my life even thinking about having kids, because I thought, ‘How could I?’.
“I think most women in the TV industry will admit you get a bit nervous about having time off to have a baby, especially if you have just worked your whole life to get where you are, which I have.
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“I took three months in the end, which wasn’t very long, but for me that is the longest I’ve ever been off work and I fully embraced it.”
Sian has cemented herself as one of the brightest stars in TV and radio, co-hosting the Capital Breakfast Show with Jordan North and Chris Stark.
Already a regular on the showbiz segment of This Morning, she made her debut as a co-host with Dermot O’Leary in January last year.
And she reveals her fears of being replaced were unfounded and bosses “could not have been more supportive”.
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Sian said: “I think it’s starting to change. There is more support and acceptance that we can have babies, but we can come back and still be absolute bosses and we can still do the job just as well, if not better.
“I felt very lucky that I was with a company and a team that couldn’t have been more supportive at This Morning and Capital.
Sian Welby Welcomes First Baby A New Chapter Begins
"The message was, ‘Come back when you’re ready. We love you, but take time off’.
“I turned off the radio and didn’t really watch telly and instead really enjoyed being with Ruby.”
And her fellow This Morning stars have all looked out for her.
Sian said: “Cat Deeley and Dermot O’Leary treat me like a little sister — they’ve all looked after me and taken me under their wing.
“I remember the first week I presented with Dermot, he kept telling me to lead the interviews.
“Alison Hammond sends me the most lovely messages and voice notes, and she’ll always give me extra time if I’m doing a little segment. They’re just a lovely team.”
Cat and former This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby — who viewers have compared her to — are Sian’s TV “idols”.
She said: “I grew up watching both of them. Holly has always been so warm and friendly to me.
“When I was on with her and doing showbiz segments, she made me feel so at ease.
“I was nervous when I first started there because it’s such a big show.
“Holly is amazing for doing live TV day in and day out, so any comparison to her is an absolute compliment.
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“I remember walking down the corridors at work years ago and seeing the presenters’ photos on the wall.
"I thought, ‘One day I want my photo on that wall — I’d love to be a presenter on this show’. And then last year it happened. Seeing my picture on the wall blew my little mind.”
Nottingham-born Sian was working at High Street fashion store New Look when she began auditioning for TV jobs.
In 2010, she landed her big break as the Channel 5 weather presenter after she was spotted in a telly advert.
She has since jetted round the world hosting Channel 5’s Formula E: Street Racers show about electric car racing in 2017, as well as Goodwood’s Speed Week for ITV alongside Dermot.
Sian is also a social media star whose comedy weather forecasts racked up 10million views.
Incredibly, Sian has had several near-death experiences at work.
‘I cried over a sandwich’
She revealed: “I was presenting at the side of the track on Formula E and the cameraman saved me by pulling me to the side as a car whizzed behind me.
“Then a few years ago I nearly died in front of Timothee Chalamet.
"I was interviewing him for Wonka and was stuffing marshmallows in my mouth and I almost choked on them. I had to cough them all up. I came back with streaming eyes and a bright red face.
“It was so embarrassing. The whole team genuinely had a bit of a panic.”
While she has also had countless “pinch me” moments, Sian says her feet are firmly on the ground, adding: “I’m trying to live in the moment.”
But she admits life as a working mum is a continual juggling act.
She said: “Some days it’s incredible and you think, ‘Oh my God, I really can do it all’.
“You feel like Superwoman. I think, ‘This is great, I’m winning at life’.
“And then all it takes is one hiccup or one extra job and I’ve almost had a nervous breakdown. I’ve cried over a ham sandwich in a screening because I’ve been exhausted.
"It only took Ruby to be poorly and for me to be getting up all night to push me over the edge.
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“I try to do it all, and some days I smash it and other days I want to curl up in a ball and cry into a bucket of ice cream.
“But talking to other parents, you realise that everyone is exhausted, everyone’s winging it — so the more I talk to other parents, the more I just feel better.”
Sian expresses “a sense of pride in being able to keep working”, but admits to occasional worries over spending time with her daughter.
She said: “Some days, I am getting it wrong and the balance isn’t there and then the mum guilt kicks in and I worry that I’ve not seen her enough.
"But I know when she’s older I can teach her that girls can do whatever they want and I can be a good influence.
“I can tell her that I was doing all of this mad stuff when she was a baby and we survived and we got through it.
“I’m hopefully going to raise a really strong little girl who’s going to be up there with the boys doing whatever she wants.”
Sian also admits that she has found a new confidence in her body, even showing off her bump in an underwear shoot, and didn’t feel under pressure post-partum to “snap back”.
Suddenly I had this confidence to do a full photoshoot in my underwear
Sian Welby
She said: “I’ve never felt more comfortable in my own skin than when I was pregnant.
“I thought I was going to hate it, as I’ve never been that confident about my body.
“But when I was pregnant, suddenly I had this confidence to do a full photoshoot in my underwear.
“Since having Ruby, I’ve just kind of gone back to my comfortable weight, I think because I have been so busy.
“Maybe it was a reset on my whole body, because I wasn’t drinking alcohol, I was taking all these vitamins and I’ve never felt so healthy.
“I’m trying to keep that up — drinking water and clean living. Also, picking Ruby up is like a weightlifting course!”
Due to her current busy schedule, Sian has temporarily put her plans to get hitched on hold.
She said: “Ruby coming along sort of scuppered a wedding.
“I’m just about managing to get dressed in the morning and remembering my bra, let alone trying to plan a wedding.
“But I do love a party so I would like to do one at some point.”
And her next big night out will be the Brit Awards next month. Sian was presenter for the event’s nominations show in January.
She added: “People are already talking to me about after-parties.
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“But I know by that point in the evening I’ll just want to go home and watch Netflix in bed.”
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