‘It was a nightmare’: The One Show’s Alex Jones reveals big regret

The One Show presenter Alex Jones happily welcomed her baby Teddy into her life in 2017, but that doesn't mean that his arrival has come without its difficulties.

41-year-old Alex Jones, who shares baby Teddy with husband Charlie, opened up in a candid admission about the elusive work/life balance, confessing she hasn't always found it easy to get right.

In fact, Alex admitted in Giovanna Fletcher's podcast, Happy Mum, Happy Baby, that she regrets returning to work so soon after giving birth.

The One Show presenter returned to her place on the sofa just three months after welcoming her son. And she's revealed that the transitition was anything but smooth.

She said, "I went back too soon. I was still trying to feed going back to work. After the meeting I'd try and express, then go into the rehearsal, and go back and try and express a little bit more, and my milk was in the fridge with all the food being given to the guests!

"I was like, this is not working, this is a nightmare.

Alex even confessed that trying to feed her newborn and juggling work at the same time meant for some unfortunate accidents live on air.

She said, "I'd sit on the sofa and the titles would start playing and I'd feel this stain start coming through the dress and I'd think, 'Oh no, this is awful'. I thought, 'I really hope people out there will understand what's happened here.'"

The social media backlash however proved difficult for new-mum Alex to bear.

MORE: ‘I felt murderous’: Alex Jones gets candid about her relationship struggles

"Of course, you can imagine, there were some comments that were really upsetting to read but there's nothing I could do about it.

"It destroyed my confidence in terms of trying to feed and be back at work. So by four months I had to give in to formula completely. I was combining but it just wasn't working."

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(Image credit: Rex Features (Shutterstock))

Now, presenter Alex Jones still juggles work on the BBC show with being a mum. But she's confessed that being a working mother has also led to her missing some key moments with her baby.

She even admitted to being jealous of her son's nanny, Jess, who cares for Teddy whilst she and Charlie are away.

In her new book, Winging It!, Alex said, "Jess is a brilliant girl and we couldn't do without her. She's wonderful in so many ways and we love her, however there is still that feeling that I want to be doing the things that she's doing with Teddy.

"And it's really tough. I remember the one where he crawled for the first time and she'd sent a video of it to Charlie and I. And both of us were crestfallen, thinking - 'I wanted to see it!'

"It's a reality that all parents face, isn't it? You can't be there 24 hours a day."

Amy Hunt

Amy Hunt is an experienced digital journalist specialising in homes, interiors and hobbies. She began her career working as the features assistant at woman&home magazine, before moving over to the digital side of the brand where she eventually became the Lifestyle Editor up until January 2022. Amy won the Digital Journalist of the Year award at the AOP Awards in 2019 for her work on womanandhome.com.