Gemma Collins is one of the most in-demand stars in showbiz and always on the go.
So it’s no surprise that when new! calls her for a catch-up, she’s driving to another job, having just finished gruelling rehearsals for musical Chicago (in which she’ll play ‘Mama’ Morton). We’d like to confirm no laws were broken during this interview, as Gemma was on hands-free!
Luckily for The GC, her boyfriend Rami Hawash, 48 – who she started dating again last year after breaking off their engagement in 2013 – is incredibly supportive of her career.
And Gemma has recently been there for Rami after he suffered an eye injury at work, leaving him with severe sight issues.
“He’s had one eye, bless him!” she tells us. “He’s been on painkillers and medication up to his eyeballs.” We don’t think the pun was intended!
The former TOWIE star is a proud stepmum to Rami’s three year old son Tristan and tells us she spends any spare time she can with the pair of them.
Here, Gemma confides in new about her romance with Rami and being a stepmum, but insists that, despite her happy relationship, she doesn’t plan to get hitched anytime soon…
Hi Gemma! How are things with you and Rami?
Very good, darling, but he’s had one eye and I’ve been in rehearsal for Chicago. Funnily enough he’s going back to the hospital today. I’m in rehearsals in London every day.
Time is so important and that is the biggest gift I can give anyone – but at the moment I just don’t have a minute. I’m lucky that he’s very supportive and he understands.
Plus, it’s not healthy to be strapped to someone 24/7. He’s really busy because he’s got his own business, but he’s not been able to go in because of his eye.
You recently said Rami might not get his sight back. How is he doing?
We don’t know to be honest. I can’t even be with him at the hospital. He’s finding out today if he will regain full sight. It happened before I went in to do my show – I was away on tour. It was just shocking.
And then, weirdly enough, the eye started to heal itself. But then it dropped down, so aesthetically it looked very strange. They’ve built it back up now.
He was seeing loads of me! It went from double to quadruple vision. He was like, “One of you is enough!” I’ll stand by him whatever the outcome is.
You’ve been very open about your relationship with Rami, his ex-wife Fernanda and their son Tristan. Did you guys click right away?
It was a process actually, a very slow process. Obviously their relationship was over. I bumped into Rami at a Madonna concert and then about three or four months passed and he moved back to Essex.
Then we were in a pandemic so we started walking and talking. I never thought in a million years we’d get back together. My dad was in hospital, we were in a pandemic, you could only go to Marks & Spencer for an hour a day – I wasn’t really thinking about romance, hun.
So it was all very slowly, slowly. Their relationship had finished so it wasn’t like there was something going on or there were any feelings involved. They’ve got a really healthy relationship themselves. They’re not at war with each other.
That’s nice to hear!
And we’ve all got one thing in common and that’s Tristan. We all love him, and we just want him to have the happiest life and be in the happiest environment he can be in.
How do you feel about being a stepmum now?
We’ve got a very healthy situation. I feel like parents splitting up is deemed such a failure in life, but it doesn’t need to be. I’m sure there’s emotion involved and it’s upsetting for people, but I just think there needs to be some kind of moving on – like, don’t be at war with everyone. It’ll happen in its own time.
You just need to find that healthy balance. We’ve found it and I thank God we have because we all live in peace. And we all just want Tristan to be happy and in a very settled and secure environment.
What is your bond with Tristan like?
I will never be his mum. He’s got one mum and that’s the way it should be. But when his mum’s not around and his dad’s there, I’m just that womanly support.
And we’ve got such a lovely bond. I love him like he is my own and sometimes I get really carried away. I’m like, “I’m gonna get him this, I’m gonna get him that.”
But, obviously, I have to go easy because he isn’t my child and I don’t want anyone to ever think I’m taking over or being overpowering. No one’s ever said anything, but it’s just always being mindful of that fine line.
He knows Mum and he knows Dad, and he calls me Gemma. I’m just going to be that added support for him because parents are different. And he’ll always cuddle up to me on the sofa if he’s feeling a bit tired.
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It was reported last year that you and Rami were engaged…
What a load of c**p! Basically, he did buy me an engagement ring years ago and it is beautiful. And every now and then I dust it off and wear it, but we’re not officially engaged.
I’m a free spirit, honey! I won’t tie the knot until I’m about 50. I’m an eternal free spirit. I’ll be in Hollywood by then, darling, so it’s best not to… I never think long-term. It’s always like I live for each day!
You recently partnered with Durex on a campaign to de-stigmatise self love and launch three new sex toys. Why is self love important to you?
I wish I would have known more about self love when I first come onto the showbiz scene – I was kind of vulnerable. Everyone’s vulnerable in their own way, not just in showbiz. And I started going on my spiritual journey and I started to realise it is so important how we speak to ourselves, the people we surround ourselves with and even what we’re looking at on social media or on TV. It’s all about vibration. For instance, when the birds are singing in the garden, the flowers start to grow because that vibration is pure. It’s intentional and beautiful. It’s not always easy to self love. It’s really weird at first because then you realise you actually don’t love yourself so you have to really work at it. And once you do, your confidence is just glowing.
Durex has partnered with Gemma Collins to launch its new range of vibrators. Together, they hope to normalise self-love and de-stigmatize sex toys helping us all get the pleasure we deserve
Durex’s new range of sex toys are available to purchase from Amazon.
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