Holly Willoughby has it all – an amazing career, looks to die for and a beautiful family. But in an exclusive interview with HELLO! magazine in February 2017, the mum-of-three has revealed that motherhood has always been the most important thing to her. "All I ever wanted to do was to be a mum," she said. "It wasn’t like when I was at school I thought, 'Oh, I’m going to be this big career girl'. Being a mummy is definitely my most favourite job of all, without a shadow of a doubt." Holly added that now that her children Harry, Belle and Chester are slightly older "it doesn't feel like ard work," balancing work and her family life.
"Chester is coming out of that baby baby stage. He can feed himself, he’s potty trained... It feels more like a family than ever. I’m not just looking after little people, I’m hanging out with friends," Holly said. Does that mean it’s time for a fourth? "No! It doesn’t. It doesn't!" she said laughing.
Holly Willoughby shares three children with husband Dan Baldwin
Holly wouldn’t discourage her kids from following in her professional footsteps either. "I’ll encourage them to go in whatever direction they want. Belle wants to be a rainbow. She's a mix of complete tomboy and real girl. She keeps up with her brothers like you wouldn’t believe but loves dressing up as a princess and thinks, 'Why wear one hairclip when I could wear all the hairclips I own in my hair?' She loves anything multicoloured and with sparkles in it."
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Holly opened up about being a mum
The This Morning presenter celebrated a low key 36th birthday by renting out a little country cottage with her family. Speaking about balancing her hectic career with her three children she said: "Essentially I just have a job and children, though. I have the same issues as the next person, but I do feel very lucky that I’ve been blessed with three lovely children and that I look forward to going to work, because I know a lot of people don't feel like that. If I’m going to get up and leave the kids in the morning then it has to be for something that I care about, or feel passionately about – and I’m lucky to be able to do that."
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Holly's children are all coming into their own, and there is one thing her eldest son Harry is particularly passionate about. "Harry’s football mad. He's as bad as his father," said Holly, revealing that Dan is an Arsenal season ticket holder. "If Harry’s not playing, he’s watching it. I’m either dropping him at football, picking him up from practice, washing his kit, cleaning his boots... It’s a massive part of my life and Chester is showing all the signs of going in that direction, too. So I’ve had to embrace it or I can’t be part of that conversation. Selfishly, this is my way of scoring brownie points with my son."