Jermaine Jenas on the ‘scary’ reality of becoming a dad in lockdown

EXCLUSIVE The former footballer and One Show presenter said life for many parents was different to’ rosy and beautiful’ Instagram posts
Jermaine Jenas has opened up about his experience of parenting during lockdown
Jermaine Jenas / Instagram
Tina Campbell28 June 2022
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Jermaine Jenas has opened up about becoming a dad during the Covid-19 pandemic and admitted it was “pretty scary”.

The former footballer and One Show presenter, 39, welcomed 20-month-old son Jacob with model wife Ellie Penfold in October 2020.

The couple also share daughters Geneva, nine, and Olivia, five, while he has 14-year-old daughter, Sancha, from a previous relationship.

Recalling the traumatic experience of expanding his family in lockdown, he told the Standard: “I think parenthood for a period of time is quite stressful. You can make it look as rosy and beautiful as you want to on Instagram and the rest of it but I think the reality of raising kids in a pandemic was pretty scary for a lot of parents, especially with a newborn.

Jermaine Jenas pictured with wife Ellie Penfold, whom he married in 2011 and shares three children with
Getty Images

“I was out working as well so I was in and around people so the constant panic in the house of kind of like get in, take off your clothes, go wash, this that and the other and you know, just keeping the baby safe was key,” he continued.

“My other kids were going to school as well so there were a lot of worries in my house around the pandemic and on top of that, my wife had just given birth so there were hormonal issues, that protective nature she has around her children was massively heightened.

“It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t a simple situation but thankfully everything is a little more relaxed now.”

Jenas is now on a mission to make every second count where his family are concerned and spend as much time with them as possible, even if that does mean listening to the Encanto soundtrack and Little Mix on loop in the car on the school run.

One of the ways he does this is by encouraging their love of physical activities.

He said: “I try and get them involved in all different kinds of sports. Like my 14-year-old, she does dance, ballet, plays football. My nine-year-old plays tennis, cricket and a little bit of football as well. The now six-year-old is just running around and being a bit of a nutter in anything that she does to be honest.

“There are so many lessons to be learned in sport I’ve always found when I was growing up. The losing element, the winning element, the kind of being humbled and the lessons, the discipline. I’ve always loved those learning experiences for kids so I always try and get them involved in as much as possible.”

He has also been actively trying to introduce them to new experiences such as spending a day at the races.

Jenas, who has partnered with Great British Racing’s Everyone’s Turf campaign, said: “It’s a good day out and massively affordable. The fact that under 18s can go for free is huge as well given peoples’ struggles at the minute. I just think it’s a really good event and a good thing for young families and anybody in particular who wants to get themselves down to the races to enjoy.

“It’s definitely not all top hats and tails. Historically when people think about racing we see more often than not what’s in the media, like a day out at Cheltenham or Ascot and the glamour of it and don’t get me wrong, it’s really nice to go to those events and get dressed up - maybe you want to go there for a date night with your partner. But there is also a much more casual element of being able to go to all of these race meets whether you want to turn up for an early evening of racing or be there all day.

“You can dress smart, or wear what you want; casual outfits are completely fine, you want everyone to be feeling comfortable and I know what it’s like trying get your kids to dress up, it’s not easy put it that way, so parents definitely don’t have to worry about that.

Jermaine Jenas is supporting Great British Racing’s Everyone’s Turf campaign, showcasing the hundreds of racedays to suit everyone this summer. To find a race fixture near you, visit greatbritishracing.com/everyonesturf.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in