This Morning star admits they had ‘dark thoughts’ about being replaced

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This Morning star Siân Welby has revealed she returned to work soon after the birth of her first child out of fear she would be ‘replaced.’

Last summer, the presenter announced that she had given birth to daughter Ruby with her fiancé Jake Beckett, and just two months later she was back on the ITV show alongside co-host Craig Doyle.

Now, the 38-year-old has said she took three months maternity leave from her TV commitments and Capital FM hosting job as she felt ‘nervous’ about having an extended break from work.

She told The Sun: ‘I worried I would be off for a month and they would decide someone else is better and then they would replace me. Those are the dark thoughts you have.

‘It’s probably what put me off ­earlier in my life even thinking about having kids, because I thought, “How could I?”.’

‘I think most women in the TV industry will admit you get a bit nervous about having time off to have a baby, especially if you have just worked your whole life to get where you are, which I have.

Siân Welby said she feared becoming a mother could impact her TV career (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

‘I took three months in the end, which wasn’t very long, but for me that is the longest I’ve ever been off work and I fully embraced it.’

Siân first appeared back on This Morning days after giving birth with an emergency C-section via video link where she told presenters Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley she felt ‘delirious.’

‘I’m tired, I’m delirious, but it is the best thing I’ve ever done, and I’m just absolutely over the moon, I’m in love. I’m loving every second, despite it being absolute carnage,’ she said.

‘You can’t believe that you’re meeting them. Jake was filming me at the time when I held her, and I said, “I can’t believe I’m meeting you, it feels like a dream.”’

Jake brought Ruby to Siân’s first day back on This Morning (Picture: ITV / This Morning)

Siân explained that the birth of her daughter went through a change of plan, as she had initially been preparing for a water birth.

‘But then it boils down to what’s the safest way. In the end, I did have an emergency C-section, but I felt so safe. I was in amazing hands,’ she shared.

‘The midwives are just incredible. Any midwife watching now, you are a different breed of human, I just want to thank you.’

In August, Siân made her first appearance back in the ITV studio for This Morning and took Ruby along for her first day at work.

Siân said she feared being ‘replaced’ on This Morning if she took a long maternity leave (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

She said: ‘Little Ruby, oh it’s so sweet to have her with me today because I was quite nervous about leaving her, do you know what I mean?’

Taking to her Instagram Stories after the episode aired, the TV star wrote: ‘Today was so special having @jakebeckett92 and Ruby on my first day back at work. Thanks for all the lovely messages of support it means a lot.’

Siân started her professional broadcasting career in 2010 at Channel 5 News before going on to present the quiz shows HQ Trivia and Heart’s Triple Play.

From 2017, she was hosting her own show on Heart, before she took over the Sunday morning breakfast show on the radio station.

Then four years ago in 2020, Siân officially became a part of the Capital Breakfast team, originally working with Roman Kemp and Sonny Jay.

She joined This Morning in 2023 as a showbiz reporter, before being announced as a new main presenter on the show.

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV and ITVX.

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