Rio Ferdinand feared not being happy after first wife's death to cancer

Rio Ferdinand

Former England footballer Rio Ferdinand was worried he would never find happiness after he lost his wife Rebecca to breast cancer in 2015. After her death, the former Manchester United ace, 41, had to raise three kids - Lorenz, 13, Tate, 11, and Tia, eight, alone.

Talking about Rebecca's death in a new BBC documentary, Rio and Kate: Becoming a Stepfamily, he said: "I thought I'm never going to be happy again. I'll never meet anyone, I was just really content with just being me and the kids and that's all I thought it was going to be.

"And then something just happened. When you speak to the kids and the response is much more fun in the house, like - what dad couldn't want that? She's uplifting, she's added value to this house given where it was. It was at a low ebb."

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates