Una Healy: I got really upset seeing families together after my divorce
Watch: Una Healy reveals why she kept her songs locked up in a safe
After separating from her rugby playing husband Ben Foden in 2018, Una Healy has revealed she really struggled with seeing other families together.
The singer was speaking on the White Wine Question Time podcast about the first time she went on holiday to Portugal as a single mum.
“I remember walking through the airport and looking around and I felt like everyone was a family and I was the only single person, which is not true as there's so many other people in the same position,” she told host Kate Thornton.
Read more: Lockdown as a single parent was tough, says Una
She continued: “I was really conscious of the family units that were around and that word as well: 'family'. I used to get really upset about thinking I don't have that anymore and look at me on my own.”
Listen: Una Healy recounts her first impressions of Mollie King and Rochelle Humes
Healy married Foden in 2012, after dating for four years later. The pair had two children together — Aoife and Tadhg — before separating in 2018, just days before they were all due to move to New York for Foden’s career.
Read more: Una Healy says she was at 'rock bottom' after Ben Foden split
Healy said aside from her experience in the airport, she also used to feel self-conscious taking her kids to the swimming pool every weekend.
“On a Sunday, I'd go swimming with the two kids and I just felt like all I could see was dads bouncing around with their children and being such great dads,” she revealed.
“I'm like shouting after them or saying, 'Put on your armbands' It's only me that noticed that — no one else would have noticed and it's just I was so conscious of it really.”
The singer, who has recently released new single Swear It All Again, admitted that she really didn’t enjoy those early days, but a few years down the line, she’s finally found peace with her new family set-up.
Read more: Mum-of-two Lily Allen reveals desire for more children as her 'little terrors' grow up
“I don't think about it anymore, but it just takes time it takes a long time — well, it took a year or two anyway for me to get used to that,” she confessed.
Healy relocated to Ireland after the first lockdown after finding it a struggle, but says that time alone with her kids really taught her a valuable lesson.
She told Thornton: “It took a while to get used to the fact that that mummy is enough you know. That time during lockdown of just me and the kids — they have all the love they need, and they had each other.
"It was lovely actually to create that bond and to lose that feeling. I don't crave that family of having to be husband and wife and the kids.”
While Healy is currently single, she recently told The Sun that she’s currently looking for love, but that her advice for anyone struggling in an unhappy relationship is to know you can go it alone.
“You're much better off to be without the wrong person than stuck in a relationship that you're not happy in or that's not working out,” she said.
“You have to go through it, and it will hurt, but it does usually feel so much better. I don't look back now and also I don't hold that resentment, like I did for a while.”
Hear Una Healy talk about why she’s happy making country music in the latest episode of White Wine Question Time. Listen now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Watch: Una Healy is ready to find love again
