LAURA Anderson has opened up about the “tricky and emotional” ups and downs of planning Christmas with a blended family.
The Love Island star, who is in a relationship with Dundee footballer Clark Robertson, is looking forward to a fun festive period that includes pantomimes and a trip to Lapland UK.
Laura, 36, is mum to Bonnie, two, from her relationship with actor Gary Lucy, while Clark, 32, has two children with his ex-partner. Together they’ll spend December 25th in the north of Scotland with Clark’s parents, who she calls “the best hosts”.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, she said: “I think this year she’ll [Bonnie] really get it. Because last year she was a bit like, ‘who’s Santa? I don’t know who that is’.
“Christmas time, I think can be like a tricky time with blended families.
“I mean, obviously Clark’s got two kids and then I’m not with Bonnie’s dad and different things like that. So it can be an emotional, tricky time. I think blended families sort of bring hardship.”
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She continued: “But I do feel that Clark and I are kind of manoeuvring problems together as a team. You know, now we’re really like stronger than ever. I feel in a good place.
“It’s not really something that I expected or had ever dealt with before. Yeah. You know, like you have a child and then you meet someone and then they have kids.
“And actually, it’s not always plain sailing. But we’re really strong and we’re doing better than ever really. So it’ll be nice to have the kids together around Christmas time because they get on really well.”
Laura looks after Bonnie “24/7” and though she says it would be nice to have more support, she appreciates being in control of raising her daughter.
One of the things that attracted Laura to Clark, alongside his assertive nature on the football pitch, is his fatherly instincts, and she affectionately dubs him a “puppy dog”.
“He’s a great, supportive dad,” she said.
“It’s amazing to see and I’m really glad I’m with someone who is a great dad. And it’s one of the reasons that we got together in the first place. We were attracted to each other because we knew that we both had children.
“We knew that it might be easier, you know, after you’ve had kids to then meet someone who gets it. And yeah, he gives me a lot of faith every day that he would be a great dad to maybe our child one day if we have a child.”
The couple moved into a stunning home earlier this year with a huge garden and overjoyed Laura gushed about everything in her life coming together.
She wrote in May: “Busy and booked, The Man of my dreams and a daughter to die for.
“I never ever thought I’d have all 3. Here’s to the next chapter.”
The relationship was a long time in the making, with Clark initially sending Laura a DM that went unread for three years.
They eventually got together after Laura’s whirlwind relationship with Celebs Go Dating co-star Gary came to an end and haven’t looked back.
It’s not just at home where Laura is considered a mum, she’s also provided motherly support for younger Love Island stars as they navigate the difficult first says outside of the villa.
Having found fame on the reality show in her early 30s, she felt more self-assured and capable of handling the madness that follows the programme than some of her younger co-stars.
“I’ve just kind of stayed the same person, which I think is important,” she said. “Maybe that’s because I had so much life experience before.
“Whereas, usually, it’s the younger ones that have fame too early they are more affected in a negative way, which is a shame. That’s why I always reach out to a lot of them when they come off that show specifically because it’s so big, just to be like, ‘are you okay?’
“I mean, when they used to call me ‘Old Laura’, I like it. Like, if I’m the Love Island mother, then I will take that. I love being a mum anyway.
“They have issues, you know, being stabbed in the back and all this drama and stuff. I would sit and talk to some of them mainly on Instagram DMs or whatever.
“And then if I see them at events, they’ll be like, ‘oh, thank you so much’. And I can just tell that they kind of look, I don’t mean to sound big-headed, but look at me, like, they seem trusting even though we don’t really know each other.
“I’m not going to use them for anything.”
Looking ahead to the new year, Laura has some literary projects in the pipeline and is working hard to move in a different direction.
She said: “There’s three big projects that I have wanted to do for a while that I’m working on, and I really hope that they’ll come to fruition next year. Sort of all different types of literature, I want to say.
“A few things that are really close to my heart, some things to do with motherhood. But I’ve definitely been a bit lazy and put things on the back burner.
“I think when you work for yourself and you’re trying to juggle kids. I’ve been lucky enough to consistently have even just my Instagram work, and then when you’re trying to do a bigger project, I like to procrastinate and put it off.
“But I hope that I can pull off these three major things that have a little bit more credibility, a little bit more substance than some of the beauty posts or different things I’m working for other people on Instagram, because they mean a lot to me, but there’s just a bit of hard work that needs to go in there before I can launch, I guess.”
