Rochelle Humes has shared why she’s estranged from her father, and opened up about meeting the half-siblings she never knew existed.
The singer’s parents went through a divorce when she was just three years old, and she was raised solely by her mother.
In an interview with Red magazine, Rochelle explained: “For a really long time, it was just me and Mum — she was sort of like Wonder Woman because my relationship with my dad was non-existent. But by the time I was 17, I’d become curious.”
Rochelle decided she wanted to know more about her father and with her mum’s blessing, she tracked him down.
The former Saturdays singer was invited to visit her dad, so she nervously drove herself over to his house, having just passed her driving test.
Rochelle explained that although it had been years, she was open-minded, helped by the fact that her mum had not spoken negatively about her dad.
But when she arrived, she received a huge shock.
“I realised that he had two more daughters that he was raising,” Rochelle said. “Bless her, my mum has always said to me, ‘You know, some daddies just aren’t very good with daughters — mummies are better with girls.’ Before that meeting, I had it in my head that she was going to tell me there had been a reason for him not being around.”
Rochelle continued: “So yeah… that was a shock. It was the realisation that there was this guy playing dad over here to other kids — that same dad that couldn’t parent one.”
Rochelle revealed that this was part of the reason why she eventually decided to cut ties with her father.
“I couldn’t understand it and still don’t. So we had a couple of conversations and I was like, ‘Nah.'”
The 31-year-old hasn’t seen her father since, but almost ten years later she reunited with her half-siblings – which came about in a very strange way.
Former Love Island contestant Kem Cetinay went to school with Rochelle’s half-sister Sophie Piper, who recently appeared on the winter edition of the dating show.
Kem promised Sophie that if he ever met Rochelle he’d try and get her number, and the two ended up meeting at his agent’s Christmas party.
The sisters connected, and are now so close that they speak every day.
“The kids don’t know any different; they don’t remember a time when Auntie Lili, Auntie Sophie and Uncle Jake weren’t around,” Rochelle explained.
Rochelle is now enjoying family life with her husband Marvin Humes from JLS and their two children Alaia, 6, and Valentina, 2.
Rochelle shared that having such a happy family now has helped to heal a lot of the hurt she felt when she was younger, and she often reminds her daughters to appreciate how amazing their dad is.
“They don’t know how lucky they are. Marv is the dad I would have given my right arm for,” she said.
