From her almost too relatable ITVBe reality TV show Georgia & Tommy: Baby Steps to her no-filter honesty on Instagram, Georgia Kousoulou is one of the most down to earth mums around. Since her TOWIE days, Georgia has opened up her life for everyone to see, and in November 2024, she and husband Tommy added to their already adorable family as they welcomed an adorable baby girl, Gigi.
"I prayed for her every day", Georgia tells us.
The pair made no secret of their desire to become parents again and to give their son, Brody, a sibling. It has been well documented that the couple went through IVF to conceive Gigi, a year after they suffered a devastating miscarriage. They decided to go down the IVF route after she was struggling to get pregnant due to the shock and trauma her body went through.
The last time we spoke with Georgia was when she released her book, I Wish I Knew, to help new parents. Fast forward a year and Georgia's life has got a lot busier, but she's loving every second. We couldn't wait to have a cup of tea and chat with her as she shares her challenges of juggling being a mum to a toddler and a baby, planning a wedding and getting her confidence back. Georgia is working with Philips Avent to help 'Share The Care', ahead of Mother's Day on 31 March, so we grabbed our notepads and soaked up all the wisdom and gossip.
On Gigi
Georgia tells Mother&Baby that she feels like she's finally coming out of the newborn trenches with three-month-old Gigi. "I can’t cope with how good she is as a baby, it is actually mad. I’ve never known anything like it, she’s insane. Obviously she’s so cute, I’m obsessed with her. She would make you want ten kids which is the problem."
She adds that because Gigi was planned and she wanted her so much, her approach towards the gruelling newborn days was a lot different from the shock that came after Brody was born. She reflects, "I just went into it with such a different attitude. It was such a shock first time round with Brody. I like control and I like it better when I know what is going to happen. Naturally, I went into it going, I’m probably not going to sleep for three months. Brody started sleeping through at 12 weeks so I was like if she’s like him, I’ll just do it again. She actually went into hospital when she was three weeks old as she had bronchiolitis and I after that she started sleeping through. I kept waking her up and feeding her because I was like surely not? And then, no she just always went back to sleep. She’s such a content baby."
Adjusting to being a mum of a toddler and a newborn
Georgia made no secret of her desire to become a mother of two and her openness around her IVF journey and secondary infertility issues, something that many families have to navigate when it comes to deciding if they would like to try for another child. Georgia admits all her 'prayers were answered' when Gigi arrived happy and healthy, but the shock of going from one to two children was something you can never prepare for.
"It’s so much harder than zero to one, that was wild, but one to two when it is Christmas, oh my god. Gigi was born in November. You have all of it, it's winter, you're stuck inside and then the dog would bark and it’s game over. They both need me at the same time. They are both such good babies but when they both need you what do you do? I have no advice, my advice is breathe and have a cup of tea. I can’t give advice because I have none."
She adds, "My saving grace is Brody is slightly older. I dreaded the gap, I thought it was too big, a three and a half year gap is great because he does help me. He’s handy to have around."
The juggle of family life
Juggling family life is a conundrum for most mums, having to worry about childcare, going back to work and getting some time to yourself. Can working mums really have it all? Georgia admits it's so much easier if you're lucky enough to have help and depends entirely on circumstances.
I’m lucky, I have a really good mum and a really good mother in law. If I didn’t have them, I don’t think I would be able to do it all.
"In an ideal world of course we want to do everything we can, women are superheros anyway. Sometimes I get to the end of the day and think how have I done that? We play down what we do, I don't know why. Society does too. If we wrote down what we did every day, it’s a lot. I’m a dog walker, cleaner, mum of two, iron lady, cook, then trying to work out and then do work. When I think of it I’m like oh my god, actually, no wonder I’m knackered. I’m lucky, I have a really good mum and a really good mother in law. If I didn’t have them, I don’t think I would be able to do it all. I wouldn’t be able to do work calls because Gigi is crying, little things like that. I wouldn’t be able to go to the gym, unless you put them in a creche, but she’s too young. Thank god I have my mum and Tommy’s mum Bev."
On ignoring outside pressures
Being a reality star with over one million Instagram followers, Georgia knows all too well the struggle with people she doesn't know sharing their opinions on how she parents her children. From what the clothes they wear to making bottles of formula, internet trolls always seem to have something to say.
"I’m more overwhelmed by it all this time around," she explains. "People have so much more to say now. I feel like even four years ago with Brody, I was slightly more naive then. But now I’m doing it again, things seem to be so different. Rules have changed, technology has changed. It’s even worse. People telling me how to make a bottle, and I’m like, 'Brody is alive, I’m alive, I think we’re fine'. There’s people who are really bored and have nothing to do so they just want to tell you what to do. When there’s so much noise, you just need to take a minute, look at what people are saying. I listen to advice, but I also rationalise it. There’s people out there who make motherhood harder, we don’t need it."
Lessons learnt from her mum
Throughout our interview with Georgia, she speaks so highly of the fact she has her mum and Tommy's mum to help her out and she also looks to them for snippets of parenting advice. So what is the one thing Georgia has learnt from her own mum?
"Just don’t put pressure on yourself. Firstly don’t compare your child to others, I did that a lot with Brody and I shot myself in the foot. I used to be like why is he not doing this, why is he not crawling yet. I’ll never forget, about potty training, my mum saying to me, don’t rush the potty training. He will tell you when he’s ready. She said trust me, you will know. It was the best advice. I had loads of friends who were forcing potty trainingbecause of the pressures of society and I just didn’t. He just woke up for nursery one day and said to me, 'Mum I want to wear pants today', he told me he was ready. My mum was right. He knew what he was doing, he wasn’t forced and wasn’t not sure about what was going on. He got it in his own time and I’m so glad I listened to my mum."
On marriage and baby steps
2025 is a huge year for Georgia. Not only is she juggling the baby and toddler life, but she's also planning her huge second wedding to husband Tommy Mallet.
She says, "It's in June! So not long. My advice to anyone is try and get married before you have children, because it is a lot. I wanted it all though, I pushed my wedding back when I lost the baby and in my head I always said, 'I’m having a little girl and she’s going to be called Gigi and she’s going to be at my wedding'. It’s funny because I’m getting down to the crucial last things now and now I’m thinking, I’m going to be in my big wedding dress Brody’s shouting at me to wipe his bum and Gigi is screaming. But you know what I’m going to do? I’m not going to do it. My family will help me. We are just going to have to wing the day."
Her thoughts on having kids at the wedding? "There’s actually not going to be children there, there’s no kids apart from my two and my nephew Jesse. All my friends have kids, it would be chaos and the parents need a break. It changes the dynamic, I love kids, but no."
For many mums, self-care feels selfish; but we know that mums who care for themselves care better for baby. Philips Avent’s new movement calls on society to ‘Share the care’ of baby. It could be helping with a feed or taking on the night shift, supporting mums means they can better look after themselves and baby longer-term.
Hannah Mellin is Digital Writer at Mother & Baby. She is mum to a one-year-old little boy and is up for trying anything and everything to make first-time mums feel less anxious and prepared for motherhood. Outside of work, Hannah absolutely loves the outdoors, spends her summers camping in the UK and spends her Saturday mornings throwing herself in the nearby sea whatever the weather. She is passionate about nature, body positivity and children's mental health.