Arlene Phillips has opened up about being an older mother and revealed she was made to feel like “some kind of freak”.
The former ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judge, 74, who is mum to Alana, 38, and Abi, 26, gave birth for the second time when she was 47 and has now revealed that her doctor was prejudiced against her due to her age.
“[I was told] I was some kind of freak, that I would find it hard to bond with my baby,” she told Good Housekeeping magazine.
“I’m so vociferous if anybody says something to me that I find offensive. But I was so vulnerable. I let all these remarks go by with tears in my eyes.”
Phillips explained that her doctor told her she was the “oldest pregnant woman” he had seen.
“He told me that at my age I should be a grandmother not a mother,” she added. “That made me feel terrible.
“Nowadays, being an older mother is very common. When you let all those things go you see the absolute joy of having a baby when you’re older.”
Phillips married her first husband when she was 27 and gave birth shortly after. She has been with her current partner, Angus Ion, who is father of her second child, since 1985.