Alex Jones: ‘I gave birth at 44 – I was a geriatric mother but it was as wonderful as if I was 30’
Alex Jones – much-loved presenter of The One Show – has always been refreshingly honest when it comes to her experiences with both fertility, pregnancy and motherhood.
And catching up with OK! this week, the 46-year-old BBC star and mum-of-three recalls her difficult and often emotional journey to becoming a mother.
In 2019, Alex revealed she’d suffered a miscarriage two years prior, just 10 months after the birth of her eldest son Teddy, now five, and later described her third pregnancy with daughter Annie, one – when she was 44 – as a "complete shock".
The widely-adored TV host – also mum to three year old son Kit – tells us, "Being a mother is the thing I enjoy and respect the most, because I know how lucky I’ve been. It’s mad, and of course there are days that are hard but every mother knows that."
Despite all three of her pregnancies considered "geriatric" in medical terms due to her age, she wants other older mums-to-be to know that there’s nothing to fear.
“People get scared, and there are complications for some people, but if you’re lucky enough to get pregnant at 40-plus, there’s no reason in the world it shouldn’t be as wonderful as if you were 30," she smiles.
In fact she firmly believes that welcoming her children later in life gave her the chance to embark on her award-winning presenting career before settling down.
"My job requires a certain level of fizz, so I’m quite used to a high-octane kind of life," she explains. "Yes, being a mum can be tiring, but I feel I’d be just as tired if I was a younger mum because I was a lot more selfish in my twenties.
"I would have been frustrated not to be able to do my own thing, too. Now I feel so grateful to have had my children so I’m not frustrated. I put everything I’ve got into them, and it pays you back a thousand times over."
And since welcoming her brood with husband Charlie Thomson, Alex has never shied away from the often-harsh realities of parenthood, also describing her life right now as a mammoth "juggling act", due to her busy schedule.
"Sometimes, I think, ‘God, I just wish I could be home to put them to bed,’ but on the other hand, I want them to see a mum who works," Alex – who is live on air most weeknights at 7pm – admits.
"I want Annie especially to see a mother who, while being the nurturing parent, actually works. And for her to experience that somebody else can read her stories and we’re OK with that.
"It can be tough," she says. "Even if I go straight home after The One Show, they’re already in bed. But in a few years that will change – it’s always changing.
"When you become a mum, you go into overdrive, questioning everything you do. And then you end up overthinking things. I just need to keep it simple and try to do a great job. And I do as much as I can with them, and that’s the best I can do."
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