SHE was the Towie beauty whose voluptuous figure and turbulent personal life gave her a huge social media following.

But reality TV star Kate Wright decided to turn her back on fame after finding love with former England footie captain Rio Ferdinand so she could help to bring up his children.

Kate says she made the tough call after realising that her future husband’s kids Lorenz, 12, Tate, ten, and Tia, eight, needed a caring, maternal figure to help them through the trauma of losing their mum Rebecca Ellison to cancer.

Kate, 28, says: “I had two choices. I’m in this world with lots of drama and then I met Rio and the children and, I thought, ‘I’m with these kids, who have lost their mum, they don’t need a woman who is out all the time. They need someone at home with them.’ ”

Now, just months away from tying the knot, we can reveal that Kate and the 40-year-old football pundit’s nuptials will be a romantic, beachside ceremony at a five-star resort in September.

The fairytale wedding will take place after a tough three years during which Rio and his bride-to-be have gone to great lengths to make sure his children are happy for their dad to move on given everything they have been through.

Former Manchester United defender Rio’s first wife Rebecca was just 34 when she lost her battle with breast cancer in 2015.

Touchingly, the mum-of-three gave her husband her blessing to find someone new if she passed, telling a friend: “If I don’t make it, I don’t want Rio to be miserable. I want him to be happy.”

Rio fulfilled her wishes when he started dating Kate in 2016, at a time when she was still starring on Towie and he and his children were suffering unspeakable pain.

She has previously opened up about how hard they had to work to ensure his kids would welcome her into their hearts without feeling like their mother’s memory was being insulted.

Kate says: “A really big part of our relationship and it working for the children is that we’ve included them in everything we’ve done.

“So from the first date, him asking me to be his girlfriend, us moving in — everything — the kids were part of it. So it wasn’t me taking their dad away from them, it was more us becoming a family unit.”

Kate says the pivotal moment in their romance was when Rio asked her if she was ready to settle down.

She reveals: “We were eating a fry-up in a cafe in Bromley and he said, ‘I really like you and I really like your dog, will you be my girlfriend?’

They often ask when we'll give them a brother or sister

“The kids were like, ‘No, she’s not going to say yes, Dad’. They were so embarrassed. But I did say yes.”

Kate, whose gym-honed body has won her a million Instagram followers, gave up her role on Towie in 2017 so she could focus more on caring for Rio’s children.

But she admits the task has rarely been easy. She says: “At the very beginning one of them said, ‘You don’t know how to look after children because you don’t have any’.

“I know it’s just a small child but it does hurt your feelings because you really are trying your best.

“As time has gone on they are used to me more and we do have some set rules for discipline.

“I say, ‘You’ve got three chances’, then I take something off them they like. So if they love their phone I say, ‘Right, you’re not having your phone’.

“Or the biggest one is, if their dad’s at work, I pretend to record them or I record them and send it to him. And they’re like, ‘No don’t tell Dad’. And that does it.”

Kate has done her best to honour Rio’s first wife since they all moved into a new house together in London and sold the old family home in Cheshire for £2million.

She says: “Rebecca is their mum and a mum is irreplaceable, so we have a special room with her photos and their grandmother’s photos in it.

“We do big occasions like Mother’s Day and Christmas. I know a lot more about their mum than they would think, so sometimes the kids will say, ‘How do you know that’?”

Rio proposed to Kate on top of a skyscraper in front of his children while they were on holiday in Abu Dhabi in November 2018, after Kate had told how the kids had often asked: “When are you getting married?”

Since then, the kids have been begging her to give them a brother or sister. And her new career would also allow her the time to be a dedicated parent to any new additions to their family, too.

Kate has just launched a fashion line with Very and showcased the bikinis and pyjamas on her hen party, with 16 of her friends in Mykonos, Greece.

She reveals she had a “lovely time”, and after testing her new fashion line there, she says: “I’ve always loved fashion, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do but never thought I’d get the chance.

“It was important to me that I chose the right brand and also that I model clothes that I really love and are true to my style.

“I absolutely love the polka dot co-ord set and also all the bright-coloured swimwear.

“The polka dot co-ord has become a staple in my wardrobe and I can easily wear each piece separately — it’s dressy enough for dinner as well as for a stroll along the beach.

“There are lots of pretty feminine lace and chiffon cover-ups, too, which are easy to throw on.”

Rio and Kate are besotted and spend every minute they can together, often working out in unison in the morning then settling down to watch television as a family in the evening.

Love Island is their favourite programme. Kate says: “I love it, we’re all obsessed. Michael is a firm favourite in our house.

“We all normally have very busy days but we’re really good at understanding each other’s schedules and making time for each other.

“I like to do my workouts before everyone gets up. Sometimes Rio joins me. We work out as a family on holiday and the children join me for walks on the weekend.

“I like to walk my dog Ronnie for an hour a day.

“I really enjoy exercising so I work out steadily throughout the year.

“My fitness goals have changed only in the sense that I don’t punish myself if I don’t do anything.

“I don’t really exercise for weight loss as much as keeping fit and for my mind. But I do try to do it at least four or five days a week.

“I love food and enjoy cooking but also know what I should and shouldn’t eat. So if I have a bit of a cheat day I just make sure to work it off the next one.

“My routine hasn’t changed at all because of the wedding.

"My routine is my lifestyle now. I work out because I enjoy it.

“It’s not a chore for me. It helps my mind and I don’t put too much pressure on myself.

“I tend to just take one day at a time. It’s really important that my relationships with friends and family are always strong and well connected. I just like to live in the moment.”

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