Rio Ferdinand has said that he frequently bears the brunt of their heated arguments with his wife Kate Wright.
The formerly stern Manchester United and England footballer acknowledges Kate from Towie for helping him reinvent himself and teaching him how to talk about his issues.
In the podcast Football Ramble, which was released this week to coincide with the premiere of his new three-part TV documentary series Tipping Point, the 44-year-old retired defender has discussed his struggles.
On it, he disclosed: “My missus will tell me a problem that she’s got going on, and I talk about it from my point of view.”
“Most men are like this, we try to help them solve the problem. And she’s going ‘I don’t want you to try and solve it”.
“And I end up having arguments with her. We only argue about stuff like this. We get into a full-blast row because you’re trying to solve it.”
“She says, ‘I don’t want you to solve my problem for me. I just want to be able to vent, and you listen, and just help me that way”.
“As a man you’re sitting there going ‘Well why are you telling me then if it can’t be solved? Just solve it’.
“Men feel ‘don’t discuss it if you’re not trying to make a solution’.
“What’s the point in discussing it if there’s no solution-based foundations of why you’re making that conversation’, which is probably the wrong way to look at it.”
Rio has grown concerned about players’ mental health, particularly that of young players.
In West London, where he played for Queen’s Park Rangers, he would commute to practice with teammate Bobby Zamora.
Rio, however, refused to tell his teammates that his first wife Rebecca Ellison had breast cancer and was close to passing away.
In May 2015, she passed suddenly at the age of 34, leaving him to raise their three children – Lorenz, Tate, and Tia.
He began dating Kate, then 31 years old, two years later. In 2019, they got hitched in Turkey.
But Rio claimed that since meeting Kate, with whom he shares a 23-month-old kid named Cree, he has improved his communication skills.
He stated: “I think that’s an important factor in feeling good, when you communicate how you feel to someone else or people around you that you care about.
“It’s since I met my missus. I was never really a good communicator before that.
“Then I met Kate. She’s really good and has got really open lines of communication, and she’s pushed me into that way of thinking.”
Rio explained the following as to why he withheld Rebecca’s illness from his teammate:
Rio kept going: “A big part of my make-up as a football player was you don’t show emotion, you don’t show weakness, especially.”
“If you’re going to show any type of emotion, weakness isn’t the one you show.”
“Young men in our generation, we were definitely brought up to have a stone face and a hard exterior. If you did have those feelings of vulnerability or emotions you better make sure you quash them quickly.”
Rio is far from the seemingly picture-perfect household one sees on social media.
The couple was spotted this week in front of Windsor Castle, the same building where Prince William presented the former England center back with his OBE.
Kate enthused: “I am so proud. An inspiration to us all, my husband. I love you.”
At Tipping Point, topics including sexuality, racism, and mental health in soccer academies are discussed.
The former player thinks that many retired professional footballers struggle.
Rio now exhorts anyone who are experiencing mental distress to speak up.
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand OBE (born 7 November 1978) is a former center-back for England’s national team who is currently a BT Sport television analyst.
Between 1997 and 2011, he participated 81 times for England’s national team and was a part of three FIFA World Cup teams.
Many people consider him to be one of England’s all-time greatest players and he is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time.
Kate Wright
Former reality actress Kate Wright gained notoriety following her time on TOWIE. She was a business assistant at a bank before rising to popularity in 2015.
Her popularity has grown as a result of her voluptuous appearance, particularly on social media.
With the aid of online store Miss Pap, the actress debuted her range, Party Picks, in 2016.
She has maintained her success in business and consistently produces top-notch work even after joining the TOWIE reality series.
The stunning damsel left the well-liked program in 2017.
The former TOWIE actress was born in Essex, in the center of England, on June 3, 1993.
She has a sizable followers base on Instagram thanks to her stardom and beauty.
