Alexandra Burke has been opening up about returning to work after she became a mum.
The singer shares two children with her boyfriend Darren Randolph. Their first child was born in July 2022, while their second arrived in September of this year.
Alexandra returned to work just over two months after having both of her children and now she has admitted to feeling ‘pressure’ about going back to work and performing so soon after the birth of her little ones.
The 35-year-old spoke on the Dirty Mother Pukka podcast and got teary as she reflected on an incident that occurred amid going back to work after having her first child.
When Burke was on tour, she had her first-born with her but revealed they were upset and needed feeding right as she was about to go on stage.
Admitting to feeling mum guilt that she still had to perform, Alexandra explained, “There were times when I was about to go on stage, and my first born was crying and they're like, ‘Curtain needs to go up’, and I was like ‘I need to feed the baby’”.
“I asked them to hold the show and the pressure I had and felt to get my a** on that stage”.
“I said, ‘You may as well just let me feed the baby because I'm crying on stage’, and you couldn't open the show because I was standing there crying”.
“And as much as everyone was like, ‘the baby will be fine, it will be fine’. But I'm their mum and I have to look after this child”.
Alexandra went on to say, “I felt such guilt, and I still hold that guilt, and it's not like even the baby remembers, but I won't forget that. I remember saying, ‘I will never allow myself to walk away from my child ever again, and it’s never happened since’.
“The pressure I felt, I refused to feel that again, in that sense where, if the child needs me, the baby needs me and everything else can wait”.
The Broken Heels singer then clarified, “I also have to say whilst I felt that pressure, and that moment stays with me, I did of course sign up to do that show and the curtain does go up at 7.30pm every single night and I'm very much aware of that”.
“There are thousands of people in the audience waiting for the show to start so I don't blame anyone for that situation. At the same time it still makes me feel emotional”.
Alexandra added, “Of course, it was a learning curve for myself and I will never put myself in that sort of situation again. At the same time it still makes me feel emotional because in that moment, I just wanted to feed my child”.
