AS HE REVEALS THE ROMANTIC MEANING OF SON WILDE’S NAME
SHARES THE SECRETS TO HIS NEW DAD-DUTY SKILLS
Joel Dommett is wholeheartedly embracing the chaotic whirlwind of parenthood with his wife Hannah Cooper after the couple welcomed their first child, son Wilde, last September.
And the TV star, 39, known for presenting hit show Survivor, , looks to have mastered fatherhood when we chat on a video call.
Having timed Wilde’s nap perfectly, he proudly shows off the playpen that the new parents have created for their son, who is nearly walking at eight and a half months.
“Hannah’s out today, so I’m on daddy duty,” reveals Joel, who has teamed up with Pampers Baby-Dry Nappies after new research showed that one in three UK parents lose sleep because of night-time nappy leaks.
Here, he talks fatherhood, explains the sweet meaning behind Wilde’s name and reveals his dream show to work on…
Joel, let’s talk babies – how is it going with Wilde?
“I didn’t even know this love existed, the amount of love I feel for this child. Yet it’s so hard, especially at the start; you’re so sleep-deprived. I almost love the relentlessness of it in a weird way, the routine, because my life is so all over the place.
“One day I’m presenting Lorraine, the next day The Masked Singer, , the next I’m doing a stand-up gig at 1am in a nightclub. It gives my life some sort of hellish consistency.”
You celebrated your first Father’s Day last week… “I still can’t believe I’m a dad. I never thought I’d be responsible enough to have a child, and luckily I’m doing it with someone I like and love very much. We help each other out and that feels good.”
What has surprised you most about being a dad?
“How much I enjoy it. Everyone knows it’s really difficult, and there are tough parts like sleep deprivation, but I never thought I would enjoy it so much. I thought it was just something that you did, but I can’t imagine my life any other way now.
“I feel more complete than I’ve ever felt in my life, and it makes everything feel as though there’s a reason. I just really love it.”
Tell us about the name Wilde… “We got married at a hotel in Mykonos, in Greece, called The Wild. I was weirdly going to get a tattoo that said ‘wild’, and then when Hannah was pregnant, she said: ‘What do you think of the name Wilde?’
“I was like, ‘What, as in the hotel?’ She said: ‘Yeah.’ It also has Dutch connotations and Hannah’s Dutch. Now we’re just grateful that we didn’t get married in a Trave
