EXCLUSIVE: Emily MacDonagh speaks to the Mirror about parenting with husband Peter and how their approaches differ when it comes to worrying about safety in the home

Peter Andre with wife Emily at the Pride of Britain Awards in 2024(Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)

Emily MacDonagh has given a rare insight into parenting with husband Peter Andre – revealing that the Mysterious Girl singer has a very different way of dealing with their children.

While the NHS doctor, 35, clearly takes a more considered and laidback approach to looking after their daughters and son, she reveals that Peter has a tendency to become more ‘stressed’ regarding safety measures around the home.

The couple welcomed their third child Arabella in 2024, joining eight-year-old Theo and Amelia, 11, in their home. Peter is also dad to Junior, 20, and Princess, 18, with ex-wife Katie Price.

Following the birth of their daughter, Emily and Peter had to baby proof the home once again – prompting more stress for worried Peter.

Peter and Emily with their children Millie and Theo and Junior and Princess, who Peter shares with Katie Price(Image: peterandre/Instagram)

“He would have stair gates absolutely everywhere if he could,” Emily tells the Mirror. “So we have compromised. I have put a stair gate in the door that goes out of the kitchen, because she can get to the stairs otherwise. The shape of our stairs means we can’t put a gate at the bottom, so I compromise with him.

“We do have a stair gate at the kitchen door, which drives everybody nuts. We all end up climbing over it, because no one can ever open it. But that was a compromise. To me, that’s fine because I want her to be safe. I think in my mind, I’m able to think through calmly and be like, yeah, we can put that there and she’ll be safe.

“Pete definitely worries more, whereas I’ll think of it, deal with it and it’s done. I understand why he worries, but I do feel more like, if you don’t teach them not to do it, as soon as you remove that barrier, they’ll just doit anyway.”

The couple welcomed baby Arabella in 2024(Image: Daily Mirror/OK!)

However, she admits that her job as a doctor means that she can’t help but worry about any symptoms her children might have when they’re ill.

“I don’t work with children, but when you see the worst case scenarios of things that happened,” she explains. “You see the worst things. So when one of the kids gets ill, I’m looking out for signs of sepsis, etc. It’s the worst case scenario that always plays my mind.

“Whereas it’s so much easier for Pete, he doesn’t really think like that. He’s much more able to just deal with what’s in front of him. And his brain doesn’t go, ‘Okay, well, it could be this, or it could be this, or it could be this’. That’s what my head does.

Emily and Peter wed in 2015(Image: peterandre/Instagram)

“Once Theo had a bit of a virus, his neck was really stiff, and he had a headache. Obviously, straight away I’m thinking, right, he’s got meningitis. He just had a virus, and he was absolutely fine. But you know, I was going in and checking on him all the time, whereas Pete didn’t think like that.

“But of course, in my head, I’m checking for a rash, I’m looking for this and that, and checking his temperature. And so my brain will go down that rabbit hole a little bit. So that’s, that’s probably the thing that gets me worried. And like I said, I will worry about the important things, yeah, so I will worry about the baby getting hold of cleaning products, straight batteries are probably the thing that I’m the absolute hottest on.”