Ferne McCann reveals why one heartbreaking question from daughter made her quit show

Reality TV star Ferne McCann says she will always put her family's needs first

Ferne McCann has revealed she decided to call time on her ITV show after daughter Sunday asked her: “Mummy, am I famous?”

The TV star, 34, who first found fame on Towie, allowed the cameras into her life for her First Time Mum series when she fell pregnant with Sunday, now six. Since then she has gone on to find love with fiancé Lorri Haines and welcomed second daughter Finty, one, in July last year.

But while Ferne has no regrets about the show - which she describes as “the best home video ever” - she says Sunday’s question spurred her to bring it to a close.

She told the Sunday Mirror : “The show has been going on for so long that we joked we’d still be filming when Sunday had children and be calling it Second Time Nan. But I knew the time would eventually come to either have a break or stop altogether, and for the last year I’ve been thinking about it. The point where everything changed was when Sunday actually said to me: ‘Am I famous?’ A few of her friends had seen her on an advert.

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“And I was like: ‘Oh I don’t know…’ It made me feel uncomfortable, because I don’t want her to feel she is different Sunday has done the show since she was born, so she’s always been aware of the cameras, but we’d never felt she was aware of the situation. She’s never actually watched the show. But after that it felt like a whole different ball game, so I went away and worked out what I was feeling, and it felt like the right time to stop.

“This show has been a glorious experience, I’m immensely proud of it and have absolutely no regrets - what an amazing home video. But for me now, I want Sunday to have a life where she doesn’t have to come home from school, get changed and film. This isn’t the end of Sunday being on TV - she will still pop up - but it won’t be so often.”

The cameras have followed Ferne and Sunday for 13 series - and covered all of their milestones together. Asked how she would feel about her daughter choosing to pursue the limelight in the future, Ferne replied: “I have thought about that. What would I do if Sunday was 18 and asked to go on Love Island? The answer is, I would support her in anything she wants to do - but I want her to create her own path.

“I actually think she’d be amazing behind the camera, she’s always been really interested in what the crew are doing. She’d be an amazing editor. But I’m still hoping she’s going to go to the Olympics because she is insane at sport. I’m biased - and I don’t want to be a momager or a pushy parent - but she really is amazing. It’s one of the great things about being a parent - when they’re good at something, and it just makes you so proud.”

Ferne went on: “When I told Sunday we weren’t going to be filming anymore, she was really sad. It was heartbreaking, she said to me: ‘But the camera people aren’t going to play with me anymore?’ We’ve been filming for so long that the crew are like family to us. And I can’t ever see my life without cameras - I love making TV and I’ve had some great experiences.

"But I think it is time for me to move into other projects and do something different that doesn’t involve my family so much. I’m in talks with ITV about some projects and I’m really excited about what the future holds. And I’m always going to be an open book whatever I do, because I always wear my heart on my sleeve.”

Ferne says she now would love to film documentaries about issues she has explored in the show - which span from attitudes to motherhood and birth to her faith. She said: “We joke that I’ve spoken to every single expert in every field. From breastfeeding to - in this series - an intimacy coach. In series, we’ve done the rounds. I’ve got so many different passions - birth breastfeeding, my faith - I’d love to explore those subjects, whether in a documentary or a different style of TV. I’d love to do a podcast, I’d love to do a book. It’s exciting and I think that I really just want to look forward to the future. When you make such a big decision, even if know it’s right, there is a part of you that thinks: ‘What if’ so I really want to be super positive now and move forward like that.”

Ferne McCann - My Family & Me is currently airing on ITVBe & ITVX Wednesdays at 9pm.

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