Adjoa Andoh Celebrates Grandmotherhood After Pandemic Struggles

has shared her joy over being a grandmother, while opening up on being a working mother-of-three, saying her priority has always been to let her children be true to who they are'.

The star, 63, is mum to son Liam and daughter Daisy with her husband of 25 years, Howard Cunnell, and eldest daughter Jesse from a previous relationship, while she became a grandma in 2022 with the arrival of Jesse's son Liam.

Chatting to  on Saga podcast, Experience is Everything, Adjoa gushed over her grandson and how much she adored watching him grow up and learn about the world.

She revealed that Jesse had given birth to Luca while living in Cambodia during the pandemic, with travel restrictions meaning she didn't get to meet her grandson until he was six months old.

However, the actress said the pair had bonded immensely since then and that she is always eager to spend as much time as possible with him.

She said: 'I am a Nana. I am delighted in Luca my grandson. My daughter's husband was a deputy ambassador in Cambodia so when they got pregnant during lockdown, there was no way that Jesse could get back and they had the baby in Cambodia.

'So we didn't see each other for the first six months of his life, which is quite hard. But we've made up for it.'

'When he was little and he would just want to walk up and down the stairs, practicing his stair walking, I would just walk up and down the stairs with him,' Adjoa went on.

'I'd just follow his lead because I love them at that age. They're so curious and they're so interested in everything, they're full of that wonder. And I feel a bit vampiric about it. I love that wonder. 

'And now if Luca wants to go to the skate park or wants to go to the park or wants to do his Lego or wants to talk to me about his vehicles or whatever it is he wants to do, I'm absolutely keen as mustard to do that with him.'

Revealing if Luca was aware that his grandma is a famous actress, Adjoa said that his first time seeing her on TV was on Cbeebies Bedtime Stories. 

She recalled: 'One day at school, Jesse said the kids were watching some CBeebies, and at one point I came on and I was reading a story, one of the bedtime stories - all actors fight to do reading the bedtime stories - it's great! 

'And he went, "That's my Nana." And I think his teacher went, "Yes, of course it is, dear." And then I picked him up from school one day, and she went, "Oh, that was your Nana." So I think that might be the only thing he's seen me on.'

While delighting in being a grandmother, Adjoa said being a working mother to three children was much more challenging affair, admitting to having 'done a lot of crying' and 'calling girlfriends up for therapy'.

However, she insisted the most important thing about parenting was supporting her children through life's hardships, while also letting them be 'as true to who they are as they can be'.

She explained: 'It's just always been part of the thing. Jesse's dad and Liam’s and Daisy's dad have been enormously supportive, fantastic other parents, so I haven't had to do it on my own. 

'I've had great childcare people in my life, a whole load of friends who have stepped in and helped. It's always been a juggle. And it’s always been a great logistics thing. 

'But I haven't made every sports day and I haven't made every parents’ evening, and I haven't always been available to go to the PTA functions, all of that stuff. 

'But I think I've modelled being a person who's got a gift, who uses that gift and is happy because they are able to.'

She confessed: 'I haven't managed it very well at all. I've done a lot of crying. I've done a lot of calling girlfriends up for therapy. 

'But, in the end, I really love my kids and I really want them to be good people in the world and I want them to thrive. 

'So, you just have to support them through the bumps and the lumps and understand that they came into this world with their personalities already there. All we do is stop them from, you know, falling under the bus. 

 'So then you have to see who they are and then support them through their life, being as true to who they are as they can be.'

She added: 'I just think all my children are different people and they have different strengths and different challenges. And you have to tune into the uniqueness of all your kids, and you have to give them the time that they need.'

Before she quipped: 'And also, you have to get used to being the person who will get it in the neck more than any other human being on the planet, because I think that's also part of what happens to mothers.'

Adjoa has publicly shown unwavering support for the trans community, joining the London protests in April condemning the Supreme Court's ruling excluding trans women from the legal definition of women.

She has spoken openly about raising her transgender son Liam, who revealed he was 'a boy trapped in a girl's body' while in his early teens, and has decried transphobic people for pushing trans-youth to take their own lives at a disproportionally high rate.

Speaking to Red Magazine in 2022, the Invictus star insisted she wants all her children 'to thrive' no matter their gender. 

'My feeling is hold your peace until you know of what you speak' she advised. 'Self-harm and death among young trans people are disproportionately high. 

'Why on earth are we creating a society that means people feel so reviled and un-allowable that they would rather end their lives?'

She stressed: 'For me, your gig as a parent is to raise your child up, keep them from falling under a bus and teach them to do unto others. I'm a mother and I want all my children to thrive; it's a no-brainer.' 

Elsewhere on the podcast, Adjoa reflected the huge global success of Bridgerton and what attracted her to the part of fan-favourite Lady Danbury - which she has played in all four seasons and spin-off Queen Charlotte.

She recalled: 'I read [the part of] Danbury and I just thought, "Yeah, I could do something with her. She reminds me of my grandmothers. She reminds me of my mum. She reminds me of some of my girlfriends."

'Just that woman with an appetite for life who will make the most of whatever's going on and likes to look fabulous, I loved her.'

While praising showrunner Shonda Rhimes as 'the queen of storytelling', she confessed that they hadn't understood at the time 'the power of streamers'.

The star credited the show's sudden and massive popularity partly to it dropping on Christmas Day 2020, in the middle of the pandemic when people were 'sick, dying, lost their jobs, really frightened and very isolated'.

'And then here comes this little glowing nuggety gem on Christmas Day that says, park that for a minute, come over here and here's this new extraordinary thing we’re going to bring you - Regency romance,' she explained. 

'But we're going to bring it to you in psychedelic colours and with a string quartet playing Ariana Grande. And oh look, there's all different coloured people involved and how much sex, you know, all of those things. 

'I just think it was something that was fresh and hugely distracting for people when they really needed something.”

While remaining tight-lipped about season five of the hit Netflix show, Adjoa confirmed that it was happening and gushed that the Bridgerton cast and crew were 'a family you come back to', saying they had 'sort of grown up together'.

She explained: 'I was talking to another cast member about it, and we were saying, we don't live in each other's pockets. When we're not doing the show, we're off living our lives. 

'But there is this family that you come back to. And there's something really lovely about that. You catch up on who's doing what and what's been going on. 

'And our two young Bridgertons, Will and Flo, you look at photographs of them from season one, when they were tiddlers. Now, they're over 18. They drink alcohol and they have relationships. So we've sort of grown up together in a way.'