There is a hive of busy activity inside Lorraine Kelly‘s house.
While the beloved television presenter offers up cups of tea and biscuits to the team from HELLO!, and the family dogs Angus and Ruby happily greet every visitor, her daughter Rosie serenely calms the new addition to the family: four-week-old daughter Billie, who she shares with fiancé Steve White.
Introducing her daughter to the world for the first time, Rosie is clearly besotted with her new bundle of joy – and she’s not the only one.
“I love being a mother,” Rosie says. “I knew it would be no sleep and would be hard, but when I look at her, I’m not bothered. She is just so cute.”
“It’s been fantastic, absolutely wonderful,” Lorraine tells us of becoming a grandmother. “You have that unconditional love.
“[My husband] Steve [Smith] and I went to see Rosie in the hospital to meet Billie, and I felt I had known her my whole life. She’s absolutely beautiful, just gorgeous.
“Rosie is brilliant – I knew she would be. She’s taken to it so well.”
Billie’s birth story
Billie Kelly Smith-White was born on August 29 at University College Hospital in London at 7:15pm, weighing 8lbs 3oz.
Everything went to plan during the birth, with Rosie being comforted by Steve throughout and Billie arriving to the sounds of a 1970s disco music playlist.
“It was really lovely, all the nurses were singing and dancing,” freelance journalist Rosie recalls. “And just before she was born, I’m Coming Out by Diana Ross played.”
How Billie’s birth has changed Rosie’s bond with mum Lorraine
Both sets of grandparents visited the hospital the day after the birth and have been on hand ever since, with Lorraine regularly delivering food parcels and doing the family’s washing, even showering Rosie and washing her hair in the first few days after the birth.
“We have always been close, but I think this brought us closer,” Lorraine says.
“She’s obviously got a bit of understanding of what it’s like to be a mum and to have that overwhelming love and responsibility. And for me to see my baby having a baby is so beautiful.”
Inside Steve and Rosie’s relationship post-baby
South London-born Steve adds: “Rosie has been amazing, you can tell she loves and adores Billie so much. I don’t know how she is getting by on one or two hours sleep a night but she has never complained. She just takes it all in her stride. I am very proud of her.”
It’s been a big year for the couple, who got engaged in June during a holiday to Spain where they were both celebrating their 30th birthdays.
Lorraine’s year of joy
Becoming a grandmother has also been part of a landmark year for Lorraine, who marked 40 years in television with a documentary last week.
She says: “This year has been amazing. But obviously, the most wonderful, uplifting thing was the birth of Billie.”
See the full album from Rosie’s baby shoot:
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To read the full exclusive interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
