She’s thriving as a single mum to two-year-old daughter Loretta and Lydia Bright says that motherhood has been the making of her – so much so that she’d love to give her daughter some siblings.
In an exclusive chat with Closer, Lydia says, “I really want more children, probably three, whether that be by meeting someone or doing it by myself.”
She adds, “If it got to a point where love didn’t happen, I’d consider the non-conventional way, like adoption or the sperm donor route. For me, the number-one goal is to have more children. I’ve come from such a massive family – my parents have four biological children, two adopted children, and they foster many more. I’d want the same household as my parents. I love the busyness and the chaos!”
Loretta’s dad is garage owner Lee Cronin, who Lydia met in 2017. They first split around a year after they began dating, but reconciled and then Lydia discovered she was just pregnant. They split again when Lydia was 11 weeks pregnant and, despite a series of reconciliations and break-ups, the pair ended things for good shortly after Loretta was born in 2020.
Now Lydia tells Closer she’s in no rush to meet anyone. She explains, “Dating isn’t at the forefront for me. I want more children, but meeting someone isn’t always the answer. I’d like to think I will meet someone in five years’ time. I wouldn’t want to put pressure on it, but I’d like it to happen organically.”
Lydia came into the spotlight in 2010 in the first series of ITV2 hit reality show TOWIE alongside her on/off boyfriend James “Arg” Argent and good friends Mark and Jess Wright and Lauren Goodger. And Lydia says she’s still close with many the original TOWIE cast, some of whom are now mums themselves.
She says, “Whoever I was friends with on the show, that was 100 per cent authentic. Mark, James, Jess, Lauren – we all grew up together. Me and Georgia [Kousoulou] have known each other since we were babies.”
She adds, “I’m always with Lucy Mecklenburgh. We met on the show but we became such close friends. Me, Georgia and Chloe Lewis, we all still hang out with our kids. The kids will all grow up together too – the new TOWIE generation!”
Lydia has fond memories of the show and believes it helped her to get to where she is today. She says, “Of course there’s some parts where I cringe. I’m like, ‘Oh my god, what was I saying? What was I wearing?’ I had so much make-up on, I think if you’d have hit the back of my head it would have come off like a mask!
“It seems a million miles away because so much has changed since I left. But I look back on it and I’m so happy I was given the opportunity.”
And she admits if she could give a bit of advice to her 20-year-old self it would be to worry less. She reveals, “I’d say, ‘Stop worrying so much about what everyone else thinks of you.’ When you’re young, you’re so conscious of everyone liking you and appealing to everybody. Now I’m a mum, I worry less because I’ve realised you can’t please everybody.”
Now, Lydia’s working with Avon to highlight how customers can save on their beauty spending. She says, “I’m one of those people who don’t like to cut back on beauty and self-care because for me it’s so important for my mental wellbeing and to feel good about myself. So it’s finding ways, like less trips to the salon and discovering multi-functional products.”
But Lydia – who likes to run 10k a week and isn’t a fan of fried food – admits she spent four weeks prepping for a recent girls’ trip to Ibiza because she wanted to feel how she last felt on holiday with her BFFs six years ago.
She admits, “I wanted to feel care-free. I was only there for four days, but I’ve been recovering for weeks. I was ill with tonsillitis and a chest infection throughout October because I’m so not used to drinking alcohol – I very rarely drink. The partying and the late nights just absolutely killed me off!”
Lydia has teamed up with Avon for its Switch and Save campaign, uncovering the nation’s beauty spending habits during the cost-of-living crisis. See more at avonworldwide.