Teen Tate Ferdinand Reveals Strained Relationship with Stepmom

Tate Ferdinand has revealed he tried to sabotage his father's relationship with his step-mum Kate out of 'loyalty' towards his late mother. 

The 17-year-old admitted he told lies about the former star, 35, 'meeting random men' and 'locking him and his siblings in a room' after she moved into their family home in 2018.

In a candid interview on Kate's Blended podcast, Tate said he felt 'so guilty' about liking Kate due to the loyalty he felt for his mother, Rebecca, who tragically died from breast  in 2015 aged 34.

During the frank conversation, Kate and Tate reflected on the 'hell of a journey' they've been on. 

Kate co-parents Tate, Lorenz, 19, and Tia, 15, with husband Rio, 47, and they are also proud parents to daughter Shae, two, and son Cree, five. 

Speaking about the 'jealousy' Rio's children felt, Kate retold the story of how a delivery containing a present for the former footballer led to Tate accusing her of 'meeting random men on the drive'. 

Kate said: 'Once I got a phone for Rio and the kids were asleep... someone came to drop it on the drive and they're a man.

'Tate told people that when dad's not there, I'm meeting men on the drive. So then a few people thought that when Rio was out, I was meeting random guys on the drive.'

Tate replied: 'You just had a hater in the house. I used to be so jealous. Not jealous, I don't even know the word, but I would try and like get into all of your business.' 

The television personality also revealed how trying to hide a Valentine's Day balloon delivery from Rio's children 'spiralled out of control', after they began to spread the lie she had 'locked them in a room'. 

'I said to the kids, "Right, go in that room. Close the door" because I had a delivery coming. 

'How it's come out is "when dad's not there, Kate locks us in the room".'

She described the 'massive turmoil' she felt as people then began to question her if she 'was doing mad stuff' like locking the children in a room. 

Recalling his side of the story, Tate said: 'I was just in such a confused state of mind. I didn't know what was going on. Dad didn't really like surprise us with things like that. 

'So that was like a bit of a weird thing like, why am I being told to stay in here for 5 minutes? You come back as if nothing's happened.'

Tate added the incident happened during his 'half-hating' era and he would play 'mind games' on Kate by flipping between being loving to not speaking or even looking at her.  

'I remember when I hated you. I hated you. And then we might do something good and then I would flip straight away back into loving mode and then I'd have to almost lie about what I did before to get myself out of it,' he said.

'I felt so guilty for liking Kate and loving Kate. I felt guilty for my mum's family, for my mum. It's a really weird feeling because one part of me really likes her... and then the other part of me thinks, "Oh, there's a loyalty towards my mum here, what am I doing?'"

Tate said he felt like he was stuck in no man's land for a 'couple of years' before he allowed himself to appreciate the role Kate was playing in his life. 

The teenager said following the loss of his beloved mother, his father, Rio, 'shut down'. 

He said: 'In that space in between when mum passed away and when you [Kate] came in, that was probably dad's hardest point in his life... I remember the reactions we used to get from dad was mad. Dad would just shut us down straight away'

Kate replied: 'You've lost your mum. He's working, trying to hold you three together. I think we can give him leeway for that.

'When I met dad [Rio], he didn't really face issues head on. This is something that we've created over the last however many years.'