Kelly Hoppen has admitted it ‘wasn’t easy’ becoming a stepmother to Sienna and Savannah Miller as she opened up about her blended family.
The Princess of Wales’s favourite interior designer Kelly, 65, married American art dealer Edwin Miller after his divorce from Sienna and Savannah’s mother Josephine.
The couple tied the knot in 1989 when now-famed actress Sienna was just six years old and her sister Savannah was seven, but they ended their marriage in 2003.
Former Apprentice star Kelly also has a daughter called Natasha from a previous marriage to Graham Corrett.
Appearing on the My Life In A Biscuit Tin podcast on Thursday, Kelly reflected on becoming a stepmother to Edwin’s two daughters so early in their relationship.
She explained how Sienna and Savannah came to live with her briefly while she was undergoing breast cancer treatment, which she admitted wasn’t ‘easy’.
Kelly Hoppen has admitted it ‘wasn’t easy’ becoming a stepmother to Sienna and Savannah Miller as she opened up about her blended family
The Princess of Wales’s favourite interior designer Kelly, 65, was previously married to their father – American former banker and art dealer Edwin Miller
The pair tied the knot in 1989 when Sienna (left in 2017) was just six years old and her sister Savannah (middle) was seven, but ended their marriage in 2003
She said: ‘Briefly, when Ed moved in with me, their mother had breast cancer and Jo talks about it very openly and says, we will be joined at the hip for life.
‘I had to have her children come and live with me and I hadn’t really known Ed that long. Of course, they came to live with us.
‘And the first weekend [my daughter Natasha] was like, ”Yeah, this is great. It’s like a sleepover”.
‘Fast forward a couple of weeks and it was like, ”Hang on a minute, this is my mum”, and Sienna and Savannah were like, ”Well, this is my dad”.
‘So navigating that, Ed and I worked so hard to do that and, you know, are both so proud of what we’ve managed.’
Gushing about her ex-husband, she continued: ‘Ed became an incredible stepfather to my daughter and walked her down the aisle and, you know, Sienna and Savannah are close, close, close to my heart. And the three girls are very close like sisters.’
Though they all now share incredibly close relationships, Kelly admitted it wasn’t always ‘easy’.
She explained: ‘It was hard work every day until you found a formula that worked. And as they grew and got older and you know, all of the dramas that you have with three girls, but I feel blessed that having only had one real child, that we ended up with a bigger family, including two stepsons from Ed’s first marriage.’
The former Apprentice star also has a daughter called Natasha from a previous marriage to Graham Corrett (Kelly pictured with L-R Sienna, Savannah, and her daughter Natasha in 2009)
Kelly said she will always view Sienna and Savannah as her step daughters, despite no longer being married to her father (pictured with Sienna in 2001)
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Kelly Hoppen insists she will always be Sienna Miller's stepmother despite divorce from her father
‘So yeah, it was the dysfunctional modern family way back then…before it was cool, which is kind of cooler,’ she concluded.
Kelly previously opened up about why she will always view Sienna and Savannah as her step-daughters, despite no longer being married to their father.
She explained: ‘I’ve never understood when people say Sienna’s ex-stepmother because if you love a child and you are there for a majority of their childhood, you don’t just switch that off.
‘Ed and I parted on good terms and Savannah calls me Mama K and Sienna calls me Celtic Wizard — we have nicknames for each other.’
Discussing how attitudes to ‘blended families’ were different in the 90s, Kelly added: ‘You’ve got to remember I’m 64 and being stepmum to them was not normal back then – these kinds of extended families.
‘When I used to stand at the school gates, I was frowned upon like I was the other woman, and it was tough for me.’