Pierra Willix
Published March 11, 2026 8:14pm
Updated March 11, 2026 8:15pm
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Kate Ferdinand has changed her tune on living in Dubai (Picture: Blended/ YouTube)
Kate Ferdinand has backtracked on previous comments she made expressing her struggles living in Dubai.
Last year the former The Only Way is Essex star, 34, moved to the Middle East with her husband Rio Ferdinand, 47, and their children, Shae, two, and Cree, five, as well as Rio’s daughter Tia, 14.
Although the couple have previously spoken about their excitement over the relocation, Kate recently struggled to hold back tears when speaking about missing the UK.
‘Rio loves it so much. I am enjoying it, but I miss home quite a lot. I get upset. I miss the big boys a lot and I’m just struggling with that,’ she said.
Rio’s sons with late wife Rebecca, Lorenz, 19, and Tate, 17, did not relocate with the family when they moved, due to their budding football careers back home in the UK.
After Iranian missile strikes hit the city last week, Kate was reportedly left ‘terrified’ and is now desperate to return home.
She relocated to the Middle East with her husband Rio Ferdinand and their children last year (Picture: Kate Ferdinand/ Instagram)
She’s now listed some reason of why she ‘loves’ living in the city (Picture: Kate Ferdinand/ Instagram)
However, this week she made a major U-turn. Although the latest episode of her Blended podcast was recorded two days before attacks on the city began, Kate praised Dubai after her previous comments about battling severe homesickness.
Speaking about living in Dubai during Ramadan, Kate said: ‘The kids have shorter days, my children are going to school from 8:45am and they get picked up at 1pm, so like they’re doing half days.
‘Everything changes, I like the energy, it’s quite calming – not when they kids come back at 1pm by the way – it’s just something that I’ve not experienced before.
‘It’s a different vibe and I feel like living in a country with different religions and so many different cultures, you learn so much and pick up so much.’
She went on to add: ‘My children are learning things that they wouldn’t… they might learn it in the UK, but they wouldn’t actively be living it. That’s something that I really love about Dubai.’
Kate then revealed her son Cree was also now learning Arabic.
Kate has previously shared how she’s been battling homesickness (Picture: Kate Ferdinand/ Instagram)
Speaking to Women’s Health last month, Kate shared: ‘If I need help, I’ll have therapy. If I’m struggling, I’ll go outside and go for a walk, I’ll talk to people.’
When revealing their overseas move publicly, the couple shared: ‘We’ve talked about this for so long, and now it’s finally real… we’re here, we are making a new home in the place we met!’
They have since moved to a £6.5million mansion in the luxurious gated community of Al Barari.
But on her podcast, Kate had previously said she was finding it difficult returning to Dubai after spending Christmas back in London.
‘I feel like we’ve opened our eyes to a different world. But I love London, I love the UK. I love so many things about the UK. I do feel happy in Dubai, but I’m just missing a part of me,’ she said.
‘I think it’s an amazing place to live, I think it’s amazing for the children. The children are thriving and happy and living a life of just outside freedom.
‘Rio loves it so much. I am enjoying it, but I miss home quite a lot. I get upset. I miss the big boys a lot and I’m just struggling with that.’
However she’s said the decision to move was ‘right for the family’ (Picture: Eamonn M. McCormack/ Getty Images)
However, she added: ‘I know this decision is right for my younger children and as a family we are settled there, but the boys are following their football careers. So, they’re doing what they want to do otherwise they’d be with us. But it’s very hard because we’ve been through so much as a family and we’ve always been together and that’s a huge adjustment.’
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Late last month, Iran began targeting neighbouring countries, including the United Arab Emirates, after the United States launched a ‘major combat operation’ to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities, whilst also killing its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Brits continue to remain stranded throughout the Middle East, with more than 100,000 having registered their presence with the Foreign Office amid evacuation planning.
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Kate has said that despite her ‘nerves’, she felt like the government in the UAE were doing an ‘amazing job’ and she felt like she was ‘in safe hands’.
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