Jeff Brazier opens up on parenting challenges after Jade Goody's death

What did you miss?

Jeff Brazier has opened up on the parenting challenges he faced after Jade Goody's death, admitting he had "100% lost the ability to play" after shouldering so much responsibility for 15 years.

The TV presenter is currently competing in Celebrity Race Across The World alongside youngest son Freddy, one of his two children from his relationship with Big Brother star Goody.

He and Freddy spoke about how living with grief had changed their family dynamic and affected their relationship as they vowed to make some changes.

Jeff and Freddy Brazier have quickly become fan favourites with Celebrity Race Across The World viewers, but despite appearing cheerful on their travels the father and son opened up on the devastating loss they had been living with since Jade Goody's death.

TV presenter Jeff was in a relationship with Big Brother star Goody from 2002 to 2004 and they had two sons together, Freddy and EastEnders star Bobby, before Goody passed away from cervical cancer in 2009 leaving Jeff to bring up the boys who were aged four and five at the time.

What, how, and why?

Jeff said in the most recent episode of the BBC show: "Independence for Fred is the name of the game, really. I think when the boys lost their mum, I really doubled down on putting all of my time, effort, attention, focus on my children. I needed to be there helping them navigate whatever the future was going to look like for them given their loss. I'm still playing that role.

"But the more Fred does for himself, I know that he can start to push on in life...I really hope this sends him home with a fresh belief in himself and what he can do and what he should try."

Freddy added: "At the time I lost my mum, Dad had to push his feelings and all of that aside to be there for me and my brother. At times where I've pushed him away, he's pulled even harder to bring me back in. I have not been that close with him for a long time now. But I actually quite love being around him.

"I don't think I praise my dad enough or thank my dad enough for everything he's done for me. I should, he knows the love. But I don't tell him enough."

The pair managed to win this week's leg of the race, despite Freddy insisting on stopping off at tourist sites that he thought his dad would enjoy.

As Jeff looked anxious about getting back on the road while Freddy took in the amazing views, he said: "It's hard to switch off and I'm being too serious. Just everything's responsibility, that's what it's been for a long time. I think as a man you probably don't rate your chances of coping so you do what comes naturally to you which is take all the responsibility and just focus on the situation.

"I've absolutely 100% lost the ability to play, but I think that it's something that I need to regain. I need Freddy to show me, really. And I need to get back to what I used to be. I'm sure that's possible."

What else happened on Celebrity Race Across The World?

Meanwhile, tensions continued to rise between Kelly Brook and her husband Jeremy Parisi over how they chose to tackle the race.

Although they had taken an expensive taxi for one part of the journey, believing they had beaten Scott Mills and Sam Vaughan by doing so, it left them stranded for hours waiting for a budget bus as they didn't have enough cash left for the more expensive, earlier one.

Brook asked: "If we hadn't have taken that expensive taxi would we have been able to afford to get on the nine o'clock bus?" as Parisi confirmed: "Yes."

Things got even more tense when Mills and Vaughan arrived at the same bus station, with Mills commenting: "We saw them get in that taxi, they've gone no further. That was hours ago."

He and husband Vaughan looked as though they might miss the bus as they could not change any currency, until Vaughan managed to charm some Mormon missionaries into helping them.

Brook, looking on, exclaimed: "Oh my god they're picking on the Mormons babe. They can't ask the Mormons! The Mormons are 100% going to help them. That's not fair.

"I can't watch. It's painful. I can't watch, babe."

She added: "You know when, like, you're sitting somewhere and you just start questioning all your life choices?"

Parisi told her: "It's not the end of the world, we are not bad." But Brook replied: "How can it be much worse? I've got a mouth ulcer. The stress is real."

Celebrity Race Across The World airs on BBC One at 9pm on Wednesday.

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This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/jeff-brazier-parenting-challenges-jade-goody-death-214912509.html