Jeff Brazier has opened up about how his sons find it difficult to talk about their late mother Jade Goody since they have grown into teenagers.
The dad-of-two has sons Bobby, 15, and Freddie, 14, with ex-partner Jade Goody. They were just young boys when Jade Goody's cancer became terminal. He now raises the boys with his new wife Kate Dwyer after the couple married in September.
And despite Jade’s death being widely talked about publicly when it comes to promoting smear tests, Jeff has revealed that his two sons find it difficult to discuss their mum.
Speaking to the Daily Star Sunday, he spoke about how they avoid the subject of their late mother now that they’re teenagers.
‘Grief evolves. It can be dependent on the age of the children,’ said Jeff. ‘But the truth is they’re going through teenage changes.
‘It can be very confusing at times because where mum should be an easy conversation to bring up at this late stage, it actually becomes harder because teenagers don’t want to talk about things they’re emotionally invested in.
‘We used to have a monthly discussion about mum, but now they’re almost resistant to it.’
The TV presenter, who in the past how spoken about how he supports his sons in their grief by encouraging them to watch TV footage of their mother, went on to discuss how he evolves with his sons and their needs.
‘I need to make sure they still talk about their mum and never forget about her. I want them to continually challenge and question their grief. I don’t want them to suppress it. That’s my fear,’ he said.
‘You do what you do as a parent,’ he added. ‘It’s not what I signed up to. But it’s something I’ve got to do.’
The 39-year-old, who now works as a life coach and actively provides support to people who are struggling with grief, opened up about the challenges of raising children who are experiencing the difficult emotion.
‘You know you love your children,’ he said. ‘But what happens when the unknown starts to present itself? What do you do when they’re crying for their mum? What do you do when they’re being naughty because they’re upset about losing their mum?’
‘I didn’t for one second imagine I’d be naturally able to come up with all the answers,’ he added.
‘The answers to all those questions are always best sought through experts’.
