JLS star Jonathan "JB" Gill and his dancer wife Chloe introduced their newborn daughter in an exclusive interview with HELLO! for the first time. Taking part in a family shoot in July, the couple revealed that they have named their little girl Chiara Sapphire Gill. "I'm really loving suddenly having all these frilly little socks and dresses in the house," said Chloe, 29, who is also mum to their spirited chatterbox son Ace. "We'd decided not to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. But I was sure I'd only ever have sons and that my destiny was football, rugby and muddy boots. Our friends have really gone to town and we have had so many beautiful gifts."
This included a sweet pair of silver Sophia Webster baby shoes embellished with delicate butterfly wings, courtesy of JB's former JLS bandmate Aston Merrygold and his fiancée Sarah, that hold a special significance. "The style is actually called Chiara," smiled JB, 31, as he revealed why he and his wife of four years chose the name. "Chiara means light in Italian, and we hope she will be a beacon of light in the lives of everyone she meets. As for Sapphire, apart from being a beautiful precious stone, it's a symbol of hope and truth, which is what we strive to live by."
JB Gill and his family
It was Ace who first said they would have a little girl. The couple shared their son's prediction when they revealed the happy news that they were expecting a second child in an exclusive interview with us in April. Out shopping with his mum one day, Ace suddenly announced that they needed to buy clothes for his baby sister. At the time, Chloe hadn't even known she was pregnant. When asked how he took to being an older brother, JB replied: "He's been amazing. He's so proud to tell everyone: 'This is my sister' and he wants to involve Chiara in everything, like story time and bath time. He's a typical boisterous boy, but he instinctively knew he had to be gentle with her and he talks to her really softly."
Chloe added: "He fixes her with this intense look and says: 'You've got a new family now' - which makes it sound like we just found her somewhere and brought her home, but it's very sweet. The only meltdown was when he had to go home after meeting Chiara for the first time. Because I'd had such a traumatic experience when Ace was born, I didn't want J to leave my side, so he stayed overnight at the hospital and my mum and dad took Ace home. But he was sobbing as he left, saying: 'I want to be with my family.' He actually cried himself to sleep that night clutching a photograph of J, him and me, which broke our hearts."
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"But I went to fetch him the next day, so we could all arrive back home together as a family of four," remarked JB. "Since then, he's been so great. Chloe's nerves about the birth were entirely understandable. First time round she endured a 40-hour labour, only to undergo an emergency Caesarean because the umbilical cord was wrapped around Ace's neck. She then developed a serious infection and suffered an adverse reaction to the antibiotics she was given. "I very much wanted to give birth naturally, but after what happened last time we decided to leave it as late as I could before making any firm decisions," revealed Chloe.
In the end, she had a planned Caesarean. "It was such a calm experience and absolutely the right decision," explained the mum-of-two, who gave birth at her local hospital, the Princess Royal, in Orpington. "I think that, perhaps, you don't get the same rush of euphoria in that sense of: 'Wow, I went through all that and now I have this baby.' But the instant connection was there and that intense love that just takes your breath away." Their bundle of joy duly arrived weighing 8lb 1oz with a mass of thick, dark hair - just like her big brother. "It was like looking at a baby Ace all over again," said JB, adding: "I'm not really emotional in that sense. I was more concerned that Chloe and our baby were okay."
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"He was peering over the screen as they were performing the surgery, asking so many questions – I honestly think if they’d asked him to join in, he would have done," teased Chloe, who met JB when she was a backing dancer on The X Factor, the show that catapulted JLS to chart glory. "My mum was a nurse, so I've always had a natural interest – in another life perhaps I could have been a doctor," noted JB. "But I felt it was my responsibility to ensure Chloe got the best deal."
Among the first to visit were JB's ex bandmate Aston and fiancée Sarah, who welcomed son Grayson in January. "They couldn't get here fast enough," confessed JB. It's not just family life that's got busier for JB. The Songs of Praise and Down on the Farm presenter will next year host a new, as-yet-unnamed BBC show. "It's a real pinch-me situation and I can’t wait to be able to reveal more," said the singer. And what about getting JLS back together, after they called it a day in 2013? "There are no plans right now, but when that happens it will be brilliant," he added. "Although the way our families are growing, we're going to need a pretty big tour bus. How much fun would that be?"
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