Anna Whitehouse, the host of the popular podcast Dirty Mother Pukka, surprised her fans on Thursday when she announced that she is pregnant with her third child, less than a month after revealing her engagement.
The British journalist and podcast host, 43, announced her engagement to her “surprising partner” Olly Bretton on May 30, nine months after she told fans she was divorcing her husband of 17 years, who also journalist Matt Farquharson, 46.
Anna, who was ranked number 10 on The Independent’s ’50 Most Influential Women in Britain’ list in March, shares two children with Matt, while her fiancé Olly also has two sons. The couple are set to welcome their first child later in the autumn.
In an article published in The Telegraph In April, Anna explained that she and Olly had met on the dating app Hinge and that introducing Olly to her children, Eva and Mae, had been the best moment of their relationship so far.
The news of her pregnancy was delivered in Anna’s typical fun and down-to-earth style on the latest episode of light-hearted parenting podcast Dirty Mother Pukka, which launched on Thursday 27 June.
Anna Whitehouse (pictured), 43, announced she was pregnant with her third child in the latest episode of her Dirty Mother Pukka podcast, which aired on Thursday, June 27.
Speaking to her co-host and friend Polly Hazelwood on the podcast, Anna said: “She’s very excited.”
-Who’s there? Polly asked, playing along.
‘I am!’ Anna replied. ‘I’m pregnant, I’m pregnant!’
After Polly congratulated her friend on the exciting news, Anna shared more details about her pregnancy.
“I’m four months pregnant, which is really… I don’t know, contradictory, strange, to say it out loud,” she said.
‘I mean, I’m a geriatric mom. I thought I was a geriatric mother with my last child. So, this is like, you know, medical professionals watching and saying, “dude, your ovary should have shrunk by now, what’s going on?”
Anna added: ‘I thought I was going into perimenopause, and then I took a pregnancy test and thought, “Oh wow!”
Polly also revealed that when Anna first told her in private, she thought her friend was joking.
Anna announced on Instagram on May 30 that she and her partner Olly Bretton (pictured) had gotten engaged. Anna’s co-presenter Polly Hazelwood posted this picture of the couple on her Instagram page to celebrate her friend’s engagement.
She said: “My instant reaction, which I feel terrible about, was: ‘Is this a joke? Is this a joke? You’re not joking, are you?'”
Polly said she soon realised Anna wasn’t joking and added that she was very happy for her friend.
To encourage their listeners to participate, Anna and Polly ask if they should start a baby name survey.
“We’re having a baby by Dirty Mother Pukka!” Anna exclaimed.
“I’ll tell you what we should do: we should do a naming poll,” Polly said.
However, Anna was candid about the fact that she and Olly were already discussing potential names.
“Of course, but I’m not going to reveal it now,” he said.
Anna explained that getting pregnant again at age forty has been “a journey.”
Anna and her ex-husband Matt Farquharson, 46. The couple was married for 17 years before announcing their divorce last September.
He added: “It wasn’t a surprise; I mean, it was a surprise that everything worked out.”
Opening up to her long-time friend, Anna admitted she had doubts about whether she would be able to have another child naturally.
‘Mother Nature is a cruel mistress, isn’t she? They tell us “tick tock,” you know, “your ovaries are going to dry up if you don’t have a baby by 30,”‘ she said.
“I think Olly and I were like, ‘We love each other,’ like it was a supernatural love; it was all-consuming. And I remember for the first two or three months thinking, ‘I’d love to have a baby with you, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.’ possible'”.
Determined to live her life on her own terms, Anna added: ‘I don’t care about the judgment of others.
‘This is my life and I’m living it differently than the plans I had when I was 24.’
The Dirty Mother Pukka Podcast hosted by Anna Whitehouse and Polly Hazelwood
Anna shared the news of her engagement to Olly on Instagram, where she has over 417,000 followers as of May 30.
She posted a photo of her and Olly hugging with the caption: “So this happened.” I can not stop smiling.
‘I still can’t believe it. Here’s to a very different and mixed-up family love story.
Anna previously said she and ex-husband Matt remain “best friends” and are committed to being “friendly” for the sake of their children, Eva and Mae, whom they are raising together.
- Dirty Mother Pukka is available to listen to now on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts.
