Julia Bradbury hid four rounds of IVF from family to protect them from 'pain'

Julia Bradbury had to have four rounds of IVF to conceive her twin daughters Xanthe and Zena, now five years old, with partner Gerard Cunningham.

And the former Countryfile presenter - who also has a son Zephyrus, six - has now confessed she hid the full ordeal from her mum, Chrissi, as she wanted to protect her from the 'pain'.

Talking about her mum to Hello! magazine, Julia said: "She was amazing.

"IVF is not pleasant, so it was a matter of getting the balance right between sharing the right moments and not exposing her to too much pain, as I knew it would be painful for her to see me going through it."

She also praised her mother for giving her a "loving, secure childhood", and said: "I don't think we've ever been in any doubt about the love there was, and that's the greatest security you can offer your children. And I'm trying to give that to my children.

"My mum is very driven, determined and stubborn, all traits that I've inherited. But she's very cautious."

Julia's confession about her mum comes after she opened up about her own experience with endometriosis, a painful condition that affects the womb lining.

The TV host admitted it took her a "long time to get diagnosed" as she didn't suffer from any "debilitating symptoms".

Speaking on Lorraine, she explained: "I just thought I had very heavy periods, I was a bit moody and had bad cramps. I never had debilitating symptoms so it took me a long time to get diagnosed.

"I was in my 30s, I didn’t know I had anything wrong. I wanted to check my fertility so I went for a check up and was told I had it. I had laparoscopy. It was a big operation."