Paloma Faith has shared the heartbreak she experienced while celebrating her youngest daughter’s birthday over the weekend.
The former star of The Voice UK and The Voice Kids shares two daughters – aged nine and four –with her ex-husband, Leyman Lahcine. The couple split in 2022 after being married for five years.
This week (February 25), Paloma took to Instagram to share a heartwrenching post about feeling “worn out” and wrung out following the party.
Paloma Faith celebrates youngest daughter’s birthday
The singer, 43, planned a dreamy birthday party for her little one. It was filled with “jelly, ice cream, balloons popping, hysteria and loud music”. But Paloma was left deeply saddened when the girls left her to spend the night with their father once the party was over.
She posted two pictures of herself with the birthday decorations looking rather glum.
Paloma wrote in the caption: “I threw my youngest a party at the weekend. Joyous screams, jelly and ice cream, balloons popping, hysteria and loud music.
“And then they left, running off to their father’s house because it was ‘his night’. The house once bursting with energy, now sat still. Carefree mess, deflated balloons, smeared chocolate on pink velvet chairs.”
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She continued: “I sat and stared at the wall, full of sugar, wondering if I was fat and ugly now or just tired and old, after being kept awake by excited children the night before. This was a tragedy one cannot explain.
“The sound, the frenetic energy completely stopped. The promise of other kids screaming outside, hoping it was my own, saying they couldn’t bear to leave and wanted to come back. But it wouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be. They need both parents.”
She continued: “So they hugged me on their way out, smiling, saying: ‘Thank you, Mama, for the best party ever.’ And then I was there, worn out, glazed, wondering if I should spend the rest of my free time tidying their mess or go and drink three margaritas and smoke roll-ups. This was lonely.”
Fans send her love
Paloma’s followers and friends felt sorry for her as she spent her weekend feeling “lonely” without her children.
The Voice UK coach previously revealed that her marriage to Leyman “ended because we have those children”. But she added that she thinks the girls were “worth it”.
Extending her support, one wrote: “It gets easier with time. I promise.”
Another added: “Exactly this. I feel you. Thank you for being brave enough to share.”
A third one said: “I’m sad that you feel that way, but I get it. It’s brave of you to share your feelings. I know many people feel this, and it’s a comfort for them to know that they’re not alone.”
Songstress Paloma Faith appeared as a judge on the fifth season of The Voice UK, back in 2016, and coached on The Voice Kids in 2020.
But why did she leave?
Why Paloma Faith left The Voice
Singer Paloma only spent one series of The Voice UK as a judge, saying the main show had induced some anxiety.
Fans were thrilled to see her return for the children’s version of the series, and she enjoyed the new role, she said.
At the time, the singer revealed: “I feel like the main show gave me a lot of anxiety, but this gives me pure joy in bucketloads.”
‘Over-sensitive and fragile’
However, she soon stepped back from the role and then revealed the real reason why she left The Voice UK – she had been going through IVF treatment at the time.
The star revealed how she was feeling emotionally vulnerable. And not even her management knew about what she was going through at the time.
“I was doing my first course of IVF at the time and no one knew, including my management. I found that scary because I’d never experienced it before. And the hormones you have to take make you feel quite unstable. I was a bit all over the place and over-sensitive and fragile. And no one knew,” she shared.
Paloma welcomed her first daughter in December 2016. Her second arrived in February 2021.
The singer was replaced by Spice Girl Mel C on The Voice Kids. This is because it filmed while Paloma was pregnant with baby number two.
The Voice Kids cancelled?
The last series of The Voice Kids was on screen in 2023.
ITV announced the show was “taking a break” in 2024. No announcement regarding a series in 2025 has been made.
The Voice UK will be back later this year, though.
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