Rochelle Humes has said her eldest daughter, 12-year-old Alaia‑May, is being bullied at school, calling the experience "an awful thing" and describing the situation as difficult to watch for the family.
Speaking on her Ladies Who Launch podcast, the This Morning presenter and former pop singer said the transition into the second year of secondary school had exposed shifting dynamics among girls and prompted a protective response. "It brings out this lioness in you," she said, adding that although she herself had not experienced bullying, her daughter was "definitely going through a touch of that at the minute" and that it had been "so difficult and so hard to watch, but also knowing how to parent through it."
Humes, 36, and her husband, former JLS singer Marvin Humes, 40, live in north London and are parents to three children: Alaia‑May, daughter Valentina, 8, and son Blake, 4. She spoke of the family in the context of everyday parenting pressures despite the couple's public profiles and careers in music and television. The presenter also noted that her two daughters appear in marketing for her children's haircare brand, My Little Coco.
On the same podcast episode Humes reflected on her own early motherhood and the pressures she felt as a member of girlband The Saturdays. She said she was 23 when she fell pregnant and felt she had been made to feel she had "let everybody down" by having a baby while in the group. "I remember getting pregnant aged 23 and thinking, 'I am pregnant and in a girlband, isn't that against the law'," she said. She described hiding pregnancy symptoms while performing and recalled returning to television appearances shortly after giving birth, saying she felt she should have allowed herself more time to rest and bond with her newborn.
"Now when I look back, I almost feel annoyed with myself, but I don't think I really understood the impact of having a baby and what that meant to me and how I should have just let myself rest," Humes said, adding that fear about the effect on her career drove her to keep working.
Humes detailed a specific incident from early motherhood when she performed and made television appearances weeks after giving birth, saying she experienced physical discomfort and embarrassment but continued because she was concerned about the trajectory of her career. The Saturdays were formed in 2007 and entered an extended hiatus in 2014; members at the time described it as a break rather than a breakup.
Her discussion about her daughter's experience of bullying comes amid wider public conversations about social media, school environments and adolescent mental health. Humes did not detail the nature of the bullying or the steps the school has taken. She emphasised the difficulty of parenting through such situations and the instinct to protect children from harm.
Representatives for Humes did not immediately respond to requests for further comment. The presenter has frequently shared family moments on social media and balanced public work with parenting, including promoting her children’s brand. Her remarks contribute to a broader pattern of public figures speaking openly about family challenges and the pressures of balancing career and parenthood.