Rio Ferdinand has brought This Morning viewers to tears with his honest and moving interview about coping with grief.
His wife, Rebecca, passed away aged just 34 after a battle with breast cancer in 2015.
Then a second blow befell Rio when his mum, Janice, died after also fighting cancer in July of this year. Coming so soon after losing his wife, it must have been a lot for Rio to process.
Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield about writing his new book, Thinking Out Loud, Rio was very honest about coping with his losses.
Read more: Rio Ferdinand posts moving tribute to his mum
Phillip began by pointing out that Rebecca had been a “very private person.”
Rio replied: “That was good, that suited our family.
“The only way I can explain it is out of this type of tragedy, she’d have wanted to see some good done in terms of helping people, especially the kids, for them to have something to look at visually and also to pick up and read at any given moment.”
The retired Manchester United player then went on to stress his book “isn’t the gospel”, but just his own experience.
“I learnt from people who had been through it and walked that path and whether it be six months before me or ten years, their experiences were vital in me being able to deal with my situation, this is an extension of that.”
Rio admitted that the thing he found the hardest was learning it was okay to show emotion.
“Showing emotion in my house was never really, I never saw affection and love like that,” he revealed.
“And especially at Manchester United where it’s just about winning, if you saw any of the guys that looked emotionally unstable it would have been ‘right they’re not good for us, we might not win’.”
Phillip said: “You wish you’d been more open, you’d communicated a bit more. You wished you’d said I love you to Rebecca?”
“Yeah, and the same with my mum, they’re the type of things that would keep you up at night and stick around my mind,” Rio responded.
“In my relationship now and with my children, I don’t want to make that same mistake again because, god forbid, if something were to happen I want to be comfortable and know that them kids know exactly how I feel. That’s a work in progress right now.
“I’ve said to them from the beginning, it’s okay to cry, it’s okay to be open; Daddy cries. It doesn’t make you any less of a boy or a girl, you can speak and be open.
“Once you do that, I’ve realised it does release a lot of stress and tension.”
Throughout the interview Rio remained composed and together, but viewers at home were getting upset just watching – especially when he talked about one thing in particular: the memory jar.
“I went to a Child Bereavement UK centre and watched a group of children who’d been through a similar tragedy, one of the girls, had introduced a memory jar in their house to speak about, even favourite colour, basic stuff, but its such a big thing for the children.
“Once I introduced that to my children, the way it lit the room up… I saw their faces brighten up and start laughing and talking about different memories, it was fantastic.”
Viewers flocked to Twitter to praise Rio for being an inspiration to them.
Read more: Rio Ferdinand speaks about Kate Wright relationship for the first time on This Morning
Rio also opened up about his new relationship with former TOWIE star Kate Wright on the show.
After revealing fellow sportsman, golfer Darren Clarke, helped him see he was allowed to be happy again, Rio confirmed:
“I’m really happy now, the kids are the happiest they’ve been and I’m in a relationship and it’s going well. My kids deserve to be happy.”