Christine Lampard is one of TV’s busiest presenters. Between anchoring Loose Women and filling in on Lorraine, the 45-year-old is now adding another string to her bow as one of the hosts of the new Not Just Football podcast.
But her most important role is being mum to daughter Patricia, six, and son Freddie, three, who she shares with football manager husband Frank Lampard, 46.
In between recording episodes of the podcast, Christine sat down with Closer to tell us how her family is prepping for Christmas, what she makes of her pals in the I'm A Celebrity! jungle, and why she won’t be taking part in Dry January...
So, are you looking forward to Christmas?
I’ve been mentally prepping for weeks! I love Christmas anyway, but now I have the excuse of a six and a three-year-old to really buy into it. I work with many a Loose Woman who tells me to shut up about Christmas. They don’t like me to mention it before December, which I do understand, but with two young children, you’re allowed to pre-empt the rush. I love it, I can’t wait.
Do you have nativities and carol concerts?
Yes, I do. I have to make a shepherd costume, and it has to be homemade, so I’m in the throes of prepping for that. There’s bake sales and carol services, and I am the mum that sits there crying and filming everything. I’m such a loser, but I can’t help it. I absolutely love it. It’s a great time.
Do you make New Year’s resolutions?
I don’t, and I don’t do Dry January! January is the most depressing month of the year, so why take away any fun? I just think, do what you need to do to make you happy. I’m a very normal person. I love being at home, I love cooking, I love going for walks with the dog, taking the children to the park. Those are the foundations of everything that makes me really happy – everything above that is a bonus. Getting home to Northern Ireland is always on the agenda, and I’d like to do that more but, other than that, I tend to live in the moment.
You’re hosting the Not Just Football podcast with Sky Sports presenters Hayley McQueen and Kelly Cates. How’s it going?
I’m really enjoying it. I kind of forget that it’s being recorded, because you’re just sitting with two friends and it ends up being conversational. We’ve had some wonderful guests, like David Ginola, and lots more to come. It’s really interesting.
How do you keep the balance between football and other topics?
It’s really authentic. Football is Hayley and Kelly’s world, they know much more than I do. I know a different version of living with football – obviously, my husband is very involved, so our lives revolve around it. But that’s just one section of it, football is a starting point and it rarely ends there.
There’s so much conversation about women in sport at the moment, particularly football. Are you proud to see that?
My little girl has zero interest in watching football, but when it comes to the women’s games, she thinks it’s fantastic. What an amazing transition that is, because that wasn’t there for me when I was growing up. We can show her old videos of her dad, and she won’t be too interested, but she’ll watch the Lionesses and be really impressed.
What does Frank think about her not being that interested in him?
She’s actually really good at football, which is the irony. He takes her out at the weekends and I have videos of them in Hyde Park – he took cones, a little fold-out net and he had them both doing a training session. My little girl is fantastic, my little boy’s very good, but he’s only three. Frank actually thinks she’s got something so, who knows, we might be looking at the new Lampard number 8!
Your Loose Women colleagues Jane Moore and GK Barry have been in the jungle this year. Have you enjoyed watching I’m A Celebrity!?
It’s brilliant, the cast this year are immense and I’m loving every second – I know a good few people in there. Grace is so funny and I’m very close with Jane, she’s brilliant. She’s the most caring, loyal person and she’s a real doer.
What with your podcast, Loose Women and hosting Lorraine, you’re surrounded by women at work. Do you get life advice?
Of course! At Loose Women we have a meeting in the morning, but we have a good 30-minute gossip before anything work-related kicks in. How blessed can you be to go into work and have really good fun and laughs? We have Janet Street-Porter, who’s in her late 70s; Gloria Hunniford in her 80s... these are amazing women who have done it all. I’m always learning from them.
Christine Lampard was speaking on the set of the Not Just Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet. All episodes are available to watch on the Not Just Football YouTube channel, powered by The Overlap. Subscribe now and follow @ notjustfootballpod on all social platforms.