Anthea Turner feared she’d lose access to her three stepdaughters after she split from Grant Bovey.
The 56-year-old presenter was riddled with worry that Lily, 24, Amelia, 23, and Claudia, 20, would want nothing more to do with her after she broke up with their businessman father in 2013 following 13 years of marriage.
Speaking on ‘This Morning’ on Monday (22.08.16), she said: "Grant and I are no longer at loggerheads. When we split, it almost hurt me more to lose the children.
"That’s what I worried about. They were very protective of me when Grant and I split and now I have a good relationship with my ex husband."
However, Anthea never actually lost the girls – whose mother is Grant’s previous wife Della Bovey – and Claudia now lives with her in her new apartment.
She explained: "Claudia said she couldn’t remember a time I wasn’t in her life and that was not going to change."
Anthea has also revealed that she always viewed being a stepmother as something of great importance, and that it took a lot of work to get her relationship with her three stepdaughters to the level that it is at today.
She admitted: "I wasn’t marrying one person; I was marrying four. I can only speak from personal experience, but all the adults involved put things to one side and did what was in the interest of the children. I learnt to love my step-daughters but first of all we had to like each other.
"I still want to be at their weddings and engagement parties. We all get together as a family at birthdays.
"Being a stepmum is my proudest thing."
Anthea Turner feared losing stepdaughters after split from Grant Bovey
