EXCLUSIVE: Emily MacDonagh speaks to the Mirror about parenting with husband Peter and how their approaches differ when it comes to worrying about safety in the home
Emily MacDonagh has given a rare insight into parenting with husband Peter Andre – revealing that the Mysterious Girl singer has a very different way of dealing with their children.
While the NHS doctor, 35, clearly takes a more considered and laidback approach to looking after their daughters and son, she reveals that Peter has a tendency to become more ‘stressed’ regarding safety measures around the home.
The couple welcomed their third child Arabella in 2024, joining eight-year-old Theo and Amelia, 11, in their home. Peter is also dad to Junior, 20, and Princess, 18, with ex-wife Katie Price.
Following the birth of their daughter, Emily and Peter had to baby proof the home once again – prompting more stress for worried Peter.
“He would have stair gates absolutely everywhere if he could,” Emily tells the Mirror. “So we have compromised. I have put a stair gate in the door that goes out of the kitchen, because she can get to the stairs otherwise. The shape of our stairs means we can’t put a gate at the bottom, so I compromise with him.
“We do have a stair gate at the kitchen door, which drives everybody nuts. We all end up climbing over it, because no one can ever open it. But that was a compromise. To me, that’s fine because I want her to be safe. I think in my mind, I’m able to think through calmly and be like, yeah, we can put that there and she’ll be safe.
“Pete definitely worries more, whereas I’ll think of it, deal with it and it’s done. I understand why he worries, but I do feel more like, if you don’t teach them not to do it, as soon as you remove that barrier, they’ll just doit anyway.”
However, she admits that her job as a doctor means that she can’t help but worry about any symptoms her children might have when they’re ill.
“I don’t work with children, but when you see the worst case scenarios of things that happened,” she explains. “You see the worst things. So when one of the kids gets ill, I’m looking out for signs of sepsis, etc. It’s the worst case scenario that always plays my mind.
“Whereas it’s so much easier for Pete, he doesn’t really think like that. He’s much more able to just deal with what’s in front of him. And his brain doesn’t go, ‘Okay, well, it could be this, or it could be this, or it could be this’. That’s what my head does.
“Once Theo had a bit of a virus, his neck was really stiff, and he had a headache. Obviously, straight away I’m thinking, right, he’s got meningitis. He just had a virus, and he was absolutely fine. But you know, I was going in and checking on him all the time, whereas Pete didn’t think like that.
“But of course, in my head, I’m checking for a rash, I’m looking for this and that, and checking his temperature. And so my brain will go down that rabbit hole a little bit. So that’s, that’s probably the thing that gets me worried. And like I said, I will worry about the important things, yeah, so I will worry about the baby getting hold of cleaning products, straight batteries are probably the thing that I’m the absolute hottest on.”
Dr Emily MacDonagh has teamed up with Energizer – the pioneering leader in household batteries – to highlight the safety features of its latest innovation, the 3-in-1 Child Shield Lithium Coin Battery. It’s the world’s first battery to have three lines of defence, as part of Energizer’s ongoing commitment to innovation, quality and safety, and available from Amazon here.
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