Frankie Bridge is known to be a proud family woman and the matriarch of her family with husband Wayne Bridge, but this week she found herself being mum-shamed for enjoying a kids-free holiday.
The former Saturdays singer, 36, treated herself to a well-earned break with a best friend last week, jetting off on holiday without husband Wayne, 44, and their two sons Parker and Carter.
Bizarrely, internet trolls began sending hate to Frankie accusing her of being the ‘worst wife and mother’ for spending downtime on her own for a change.
In an Instagram post, Frankie addressed the backlash and said: ‘I wrote this as a reflection to the messages I received online after going away for 4 days with a friend.
‘@fleureast and I also discussed this recently, it seems once again as women we constantly need to be justifying our decisions for frankly doing just about anything?!
‘Quite fitting for International Women’s Day.’
The Loose Women presenter went on to describe herself as ‘thick-skinned’ after years in the public eye but felt compelled to speak out on behalf of other women being mum-shamed. Frankie also explained that she’s been suffering from various health issues recently and that her mental health also took a hit.
‘I and everyone else around me could see I needed a break and I reluctantly took the holiday, squeezed in at a time that would cause minimal damage to the boys’ schedule and mine,’ she said.
‘I fundamentally know what is good for my family and I. I have learned with age that I am more than just my looks and that I can like one part of my body and not the other.’
The TV star later stated: ‘I can handle being told that I’m too fat or too thin. I’m too loud or too quiet. I can even deal with people questioning how I should be coping with my depression, but my parenting? Not so much!’
Who is Frankie Bridge’s husband?
Frankie Bridge is married to Wayne Bridge, 44, who was a footballer for Chelsea and Manchester City before ending his career at Reading.
Wayne also played for England 36 times throughout his career and scored one goal against Iceland in 2004.
In his retirement years, Wayne has turned his attention to boxing and was due to fight KSI in a professional boxing match in January 2025.
However, he pulled out after getting into a brawl with KSI over the YouTuber’s taunts about his ex-partner Vanessa Perroncel having an affair with his former Chelsea teammate John Terry.
Since giving up football, he’s also made several TV appearances including I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here in 2016 and SAS: Who Dares Wins, which he won in 2019.
When did they get married?
Wayne and Frankie began dating in 2011 and he popped the question two years later in April 2013. They married in July 2014 with a private ceremony which included celebrity guests such as her Saturdays bandmates Rochelle Humes, Una Healy, Mollie King and Vanessa White.
They appear to have built a happy marriage with Frankie previously praising Wayne for supporting her throughout her depression.
In 2021, she told Hello!: ‘It was a lot for him to take on that early in our relationship, but he really made the effort to learn what was going on, stayed in touch with my doctors and tried to understand as best he could. I couldn’t ask for more.’
Frankie has also revealed how Wayne ‘parents’ her, telling her Loose Women co-hosts in 2022: ‘I would say it’s probably more around the other way, Wayne parents me. I quite like it.
‘I’m useless around the house, he always says I don’t know about the dishwasher. I don’t stack it right so I just leave it to him. I’m a put it into the sink and let Wayne deal with it.’
In 2024, Frankie revealed how her marriage has strengthened over the years after going through life’s challenges.
‘My relationship with Wayne has grown stronger because we’ve been through this journey together,’ she told Grazia.
Do they have any children?
It’s a male-heavy household for Frankie as she shares two sons with Wayne.
The couple welcomed their first child Parker Bridge on October 18, 2013, and his little brother Carter Bridge on August 15, 2015.
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