‘Motherhood's exhausting but I'd love another baby'

Ali Bastian gets honest with new about the highs and lows of motherhood and how regular counselling helps her marriage

- ANNA BAILEY

Former Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian is in an excitable mood when we call her for a chat, revealing that for the first time since her daughter Isla was born just before lockdown, she’s on her way to a Monkey Music baby group with her little one.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am because we’ve not been able to do any of this,” says Ali, 38, who lives in west London with her hubby David O’Mahony, an actor and also a talented snapper who just so happened to take the photos for this shoot. “It’s literally the first thing we’re doing where we’re going to be around other mums and babies.”

No wonder the actress is looking forward to socialising, as she tells us she didn’t leave their home for months during lockdown.

“We didn’t set foot outside the front door for about three months,” she explains. “We live in a flat so it’s not a sprawling space. We’ve got a postage-stamp-sized garden but thank God we do. I remember I had something to post and I said to David, ‘I’m gonna do it, David, I’m gonna go outside and post this letter.’ I went out there and I felt like I was in 28 Days Later!”

Ali’s isolation coincided with looking after newborn Isla, who arrived on 12 March by last-minute C-section, after Ali discovered at 36 weeks that she had gestational diabetes and Isla had gone through a growth spurt.

It wasn’t an easy decision but one Ali says, “I knew in my heart of hearts... was right for me. And when I was handed her at 9lb 2oz, everyone was like, ‘Good choice!’”