Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman has expressed her sadness over the separation from her eldest son, Jake, while he is studying at university.
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The 50-year-old shares three children with her husband Kris Thykier - Jake, 18, Matilda, 15, and Arthur, ten. But at the moment, the presenter is struggling to adjust with the change.
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Speaking to Lorraine Candy and Trish Halpin on the Postcards From Midlife Podcast earlier this week, a "heartbroken" Claudia was asked: "You've spoken about having to learn to separate from (your children) and this is the big separating time, when they go to university…"
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To which, the doting mum replied: "I handle it very badly. One is at university and I felt heartbroken. But it's not fair on him for me to just keep him here with me all the time, just having three meals a day and me looking in his eyes and going, 'I'm not being funny but if you love that Rolling Stones album would you consider listening to this Led Zeppelin song.'
"He doesn't want to do that. He wants to be with his friends. Roots and wings and all that, you have to give them both."
She added: "I remember my mum dropping me off at university and she could not stop crying. I said to myself, 'I won't do that and I'll be brave.' Of course, I fell apart because they're my life."
© Photo: Getty ImagesClaudia and her husband Kris have been married for 20 years
Claudia tends to keep her private life under wraps most of the time, and rarely posts anything about her family on social media.
In July, Claudia revealed she nearly walked away from her presenting stint with Strictly. Appearing on Radio 4's Woman's Hour, the TV star said she phoned the bosses "in tears" because of her fear that the show would clash with her son's move to university.
"I phoned the boss of Strictly quite dramatically and said, through tears, 'Sarah I love you. I don't want to leave Strictly and Tess and I have agreed we will leave together when they're done with us, but if the first show is September 13, I'm out and you'll have to go with somebody else.'"
The mother-of-three added: "And there was a beat. And she said, 'Quite dramatic. We don't start that week.' I was like, 'Alright. I have to go and put up his posters.' It's not that I love him more than others love their kids, but this is something parents have to go through."
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