Footballer Rio Ferdinand, 45, grew up in Peckham, southeast London. He played 81 times for England between 1997 and 2011. He joined Manchester United in 2002 for about £30 million, breaking the transfer fee record for a defender. He is now a TV pundit for TNT Sports and campaigns for children’s mental health. His first wife, Rebecca Ellison, died of breast cancer in 2015. He got married for the second time four years later, to the reality star Kate Wright. He has five children, with three from his first marriage. They live in Kent.
Be happy but also be comfortable being sad. Struggle is part of life. Getting that message across to young people is vitally important.
I ask my kids: what do you want to do in life? If you’ve got something in mind, then work out how you’re going to achieve it. I don’t put any pressure on my kids to be in a particular industry. If they want to be a footballer, great. If they want to work in a hospital or become a lawyer, they need the same commitment to get there.
I was never afraid to go into environments that weren’t seen as places for a kid from my background. My family gave me that confidence — they encouraged me to embrace new hobbies, whether that was drama, theatre, gymnastics or ballet. I was quite an all-rounder at sports.
Kids today are missing out on what my generation was able to experience. A lot of children are left to their own devices on tablets and iPads for long periods. They’re wasting precious moments. Parents need to take control by limiting screen time.
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You don’t need to tell your children about the value of hard work — unless they ask. My mum would take care of other people’s kids on the estate. She’d throw herself completely into her work, immersing herself in their problems. I watched my dad, who was a tailor, get up in the early hours of the morning and come back late at night, just to provide for us. So I know that it’s enough for my children to see that I’m not home for a couple of days because then they ask, “Where’s Daddy?” and they understand — he’s doing his job.
Ballet helped me in my football career. It gave me strength, balance and poise. Aged 11, I won a scholarship to attend the Central School of Ballet in London and I was never bothered about being a man in a traditionally female space. I challenge anyone who hasn’t done ballet to go into a class and see if they feel the same when they walk out. They’ll be in a world of pain, I’m sure, because it is very testing physically.
I don’t do any cardio. I ran for 30 years. I’m not doing any more running.
Racism is not just an issue in football. It continues to infiltrate our society. But teaching children in schools and parents about racism is vital. It’s our duty to tackle all forms of discrimination.
Stephen Lawrence was murdered when I was at secondary school. Stephen was a fellow pupil. It had a massive impact on me. The whole school was challenged by it and we saw it become nationwide news.
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I’ve got more hair and less greys than all my mates who tried to become managers or coaches. The pressure of my situation and my lifestyle had to change for personal reasons, so I couldn’t become a coach and a manager. But the next best thing was to become a pundit. I’m doing what I’d be doing with my friends in the pub on a Saturday night, except I’m doing it on TV.
My dream dinner party? Marvin Gaye can come and sing. It’s a smoky room, we’re having some drinks, just chilling, low lighting. Martin Luther King would be there — I’d like to talk to him. And Steve Jobs and Diego Maradona. It’s a mad mix.
Joining Manchester United, I wasn’t too bothered about what club it was as long as it had a chance of winning. So once I had the call to meet Sir Alex Ferguson and the deal was struck, it was a no-brainer for me.
Parenting is not plain sailing. It’s the most rewarding job — if it’s a job — in the world. But some people on Instagram make it look like it’s meant to be the most trouble-free thing in life, when it really isn’t.
A strong marriage is about supporting each other. Encouraging your partner in their life and in their work is paramount. And trying to get moments without the kids when you’ve got as many as we’ve got.
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Rio Ferdinand has teamed up with McDonald’s and BBC Children in Need as the iconic smile disappears from Happy Meal boxes for the first time this Mental Health Awareness Week (May 13-19)
