Life
Singer Alexandra Burke opens up about her impending second birth, missing her mum and why she’s already eager to get back to work
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She’s days away from welcoming her second baby – just over a year after the arrival of her first – and singer Alexandra Burke readily admits she began planning this pregnancy within hours of finishing labour. Alexandra, 35, laughs as she tells Closer, “I love being pregnant. Immediately after I gave birth the first time, I said to my midwife, ‘I want to be pregnant again!’ She said it was something she’d never heard before so soon after giving birth, I hadn’t even left the hospital!”
EXCITEMENT
The star, who rose to fame in 2008 after winning The X Factor, and her boyfriend, Darren Randolph, 36, a Bournemouth FC goalkeeper, announced they were expecting again in April, just nine months after first becoming parents following a two-year romance. But Alexandra, who has chosen not to reveal the gender or name of her children to protect their privacy, insists she’s not remotely fazed about being a mum of two under two.
She says, “I’m not nervous. It excites me that they’ll be similar ages and I get to do that whole first year all over again.” Describing the first year of motherhood as “an absolute joy”, she smiles, “Of course, there’ve been a few moments of panic along the way. I was so nervous taking my first flight, which was for a gig. I had the pressure of knowing I had to perform and anxiety about travelling with baby for the first time. But you just ride with it.”
And testament to her relaxed nature, she admits she doesn’t sweat Darren living in Dorset, where he trains for football, 120 miles away from their Hertfordshire family home. She says, “I take each day as it comes and I know that he won’t be in Bournemouth forever. He comes back for long weekends and I’ve made lots of trips to Bournemouth, too.”
CHALLENGES
Alex has since become a successful West End star, starring in The Bodyguard and Sister Act The Musical and, during her first pregnancy, she was on stage for eight shows a week in the musical Joseph, performing until month eight. This time around, although Alex has kept working “to a degree” – recording a new album and currently working with microbiome-friendly baby wipe brand WaterWipes, a collaboration that is a natural fit because she’s “used them for years” – she admits she’s had far less energy. “It’s been so different this time, I've been more tired, had headaches, water retention and lots more check-ups for diabetes, as it runs in the family. I could go on!”
