Ferne McCann reveals reason she's taken daughter out of spotlight at Pride of Britain Awards

Ferne McCann's daughter Sunday has grown up in the spotlight – but now it makes the TV star "uncomfortable."

The star who found fame on The Only Way Is Essex opened her own family home to the cameras on shows including First Time Mum and My Family & Me. But that's all set to change. In a candid chat, Ferne, 34, has revealed it now makes her "uncomfortable" when her daughter asks about being famous.

Speaking to the Mirror at the 25th Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards with TSB, Ferne said of her daughter knowing how famous her mum is: "No she doesn't! Because she's nearly seven she knows but Sunday's not a stage school kid. Even though the only thing she's ever known is having the cameras around, it's not super, super confident so she takes everything in her stride. But she's just started to realise - I'd say for the past year on the show - and say, am I famous?

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"And things like that. And that made me feel really uncomfortable, I don't know why. I didn't know what to say, so. I remember we once went to the theatre and [she said] 'Someone's just said my name' because they know Sunday as much as me. So we started to realise..."

She went on to add: "It's always crossing my mind [about whether to take her out of the limelight]. I think when I started the show she was just so tiny and it was just such an amazing opportunity and we've had so many glorious moments filming it and it's amazing that we can look back. But now, definitely it was part of my decision to - I made the decision solely with my children in mind."

Ferne recently made the decision to step back from her family TV shows in order to focus on spending time in private with her two children, Summer and Finty Francis. She commented: "With Sunday being a little person now with her own mind and I was like, do you know what? Now just feels like the right time - it was the most difficult decision I've had to make - I made it for her and I want her to go out and live her life and go to school and not to think about having to film - just be a kid and just create and make her own path.

"She's more reserved, so she's not like 'I love it! We're on TV!' I can always imagine her behind the camera but she's super excited - I'm doing Dancing On Ice next year and she cannot wait. She's like, 'Am I going to see you in real life?' And I'm like, 'Yep, you're going to come to the rink!' We do this thing where we say, 'Tell me something you've done today that you've loved or made you nervous or laugh' And she was like, 'Were you happy because you did Dancing On Ice?' So she's very aware of this. That's what's going to be so exciting about this - this is my first show that the whole family are going to enjoy. It's such a family show where Sunday can come along, my grandad, my mum..."

But Ferne admits that taking part in Dancing On Ice has taken its toll on her and admits it's "hard". She said that training is underway and she is finding it "challenging". "It's like learning how to walk again," she commented, before adding: "It's like learning a new language again. I really want to be positive but at the moment I can't do a lot of the stuff and I'm getting very frustrated! I just want to trust the process. I can't see how I'm skating now how I'm going to be show ready come January! So just pray for me!"

Reflecting on the Pride of Britain Awards, which Ferne attends on an annual basis, she said: "It's such an important event - it's one of my favourite nights of the year of the calendar year. It's just so humbling and special and so inspiring. Do you know what? This night, since having children, affects me more and I'm so much more emotional and my heart is just open. A lot of the children, when they share their stories, make me super emotional and tonight is to celebrate.

"My daughter and I watch it together when it goes out on TV. She'll try and spot me in the crowd!"

• Watch the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, ITV, on the ITV Hub on Thursday Oct 24 at 8pm.

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