Paloma Faith didn’t think she’d ever have a “big love”.
Paloma Faith
The 39-year-old singer had “made peace” with the fact that her purpose on earth was more connected with her career than her personal life so falling in love with Leyman Lahcine eight years ago came as a “surprise” to her.
She said: "I felt like I wasn't put on this earth to have a big love. I just felt that I was put on this earth to do other things, most of which are around my career.
"I felt happy, or made peace, with that. "I just didn't believe that would happen to me or that I was capable of it really. But I was. And it took me by surprise because I never expected that.”
The ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’ hitmaker is pregnant with her second child – a sibling for her three-year-old daughter – after undergoing six rounds of fertility treatment, and she’s happy to talk about her struggles because she thinks it’s helpful for other women.
She said: "It was very difficult to have babies. It was a bit of a journey. And I'm happy to talk about it because it's quite important to culturally burst the bubble of silence and secrecy that previous generations sort of upheld really.
"I asked my mum why she never told me how difficult it all was and she said, 'Because you would never do it and I wanted a grandchild.' "
Paloma suffered postnatal depression after the birth of her daughter, which she believes stemmed from her struggle to retain her own identity while moving into her new role as a mother.
She told Britain's HELLO! magazine: “Quite often those things run into conflict because you want to be the best parent you can, but you'd be miserable if you gave up yourself.
"To keep yourself happy, you often have to pull away from your child and those things are very conflicting and it leads you to feeling not very good at either thing.
"So that's where my depression stemmed from. I don't just want to be a mum and I think most women don't want to be that and most women resent that."
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