Rio Ferdinand has opened up about his relationship with Kate Wright

"I'm really happy."

Rio Ferdinand has spoken about his new relationship with Kate Wright for the first time. The ex-footballer appeared on This Morning where he opened up about the relationship and how it has impacted positively on his three children. Rio's wife, Rebecca, lost her battle with cancer in 2015 at the age of 34. Rio was left to raise their three children, Lorenz, Tia and Tate. Rio was on the show to promote his new book, Thinking Out Loud, and spoke about how he decided to let himself find love again after speaking with other men who had been through the same heartbreak as him. Speaking about the relationship he said:

"I'm really happy, the kids are happy - the happiest they've been. I'm in a relationship and it's going well. My kids deserve to be happy, they've had tragedy in the last few years of their lives."

He then went on to explain how he consciously made a decision to include the children in any decisions that needed to be made when Kate was first being introduced to them:

"They have to be part of that conversation, so there has not been any stage where, going into this relationship where they've not been involved. Even in terms of the introducing, how they wanted it to be done, basic stuff that you would take for granted. As long as they feel they're involved and that they're in that conversation, I think there's a chance you can get to that place of happiness. But I will always make sure that they are at the beginning of any conversation to do with anything that can have an affect on their lives."