The Meeting

Life Stories: Part 1

We weren't really sure how to proceed with the Aoife issue; every idea we came up with seemed to be nothing but a possibility of making it worse. The issue was that Aoife was still young, no matter how old she acted.

"Maybe we should just trust her?" Leah said softly, not wanting me to think she meant that I didn't.
"What you mean?"
"She knows this situation. Just like you know about losing parents, and I know about parents divorcing. This, unfortunately, is something she knows. So maybe she's best placed to tell us how we move forward? How we make it better."

We agreed, and Aoife's I wish they knew your story, then they'd see it's not so different to a man and woman soon turned into this night. Sat in front of a host, a huge audience, and cameras doing something I had always vowed against in an attempt to help my first born.

Life Stories: Alex Ryan-Williamson

Before we came out tonight, I asked the producers 'what do I call her?' They were equally unsure, Alex Ryan? Alex Williamson?
I do get a lot of variations. If you're asking what I would refer to myself as, it's Alex Ryan-Williamson.

Is there a reason for that?
When Leah and I spoke of getting married, the name discussion was a big one. Obviously both of us have built our image around our names. Myself as Alex Ryan, Leah as Leah Williamson. I always wanted to take her name, but I didn't want to lose that connection to my own identity either; so we settled for Ryan-Williamson.

When you say connection to your own identity, is that your parents? Ireland? Your stage name?
Mostly my parents. I don't ever want to receive an award that doesn't showcase their input. By hearing the Ryan in there, it reminds people that before I was 'the wife of Leah Williamson', I was the daughter of Peter and Aoife Ryan.

Let's talk a bit about them, we saw a complete Twitter meltdown recently when you posted a picture of your Mum at 25, fans unable to believe the resemblance between the two of you. What was it about your Mum that made her in your words 'the perfect Mum'?
I think most people, well those who are lucky, think they have the perfect Mum. I can't sit here and say that I had the best Mum in the world, because that's unfair to others who also believe that, but what I can say is that I had the perfect Mum for me. She was just always there, knowing exactly what I needed to hear at that time, even if sometimes it wasn't what I wanted to hear. She would know when I needed to be comforted and when I needed to be told that I had made a mistake. We did everything together, talked about everything, she built me up at every opportunity and made me feel invincible whilst instilling values and morals into me, something I have tried to continue with my own children.

So, that day when you get that news. She's sick. Where were you when that happened?
Mum had been feeling under the weather, she was given a GP appointment, followed by bloods. The bloods were taken at 11am on the Tuesday, and on the Wednesday afternoon she received a call from the hospital telling her that she needed to come in the following morning. I had been at a friends birthday, in a lodge on the coast of Ireland, so when I returned home my parents told me that Mum had an appointment at the hospital the next day. Of course, at the time I worried but she was my Mum, I imagined that whatever it was we would get through it and she'd be sat at my shows again in no time.
The following day, I drove the three of us to the hospital, covid rules were still in place so only my Dad was allowed in with her. I remember that song I'm Like a Bird was playing on the radio when it abruptly stopped and my Dad's name flashed up on the dash display. I think I knew, seeing his name come up. I think I knew in that moment that this wouldn't be an ordinary day.

What did he say?
Dad told me that she had cancer, a rare form of Leukaemia that would attack her body quickly. He didn't say much else, just that he would be out to me as soon as he could. I didn't really know what to do, I just kind of sat there staring out the window. I remember watching as people parked their cars and got out laughing, nurses that were joking with each other. I remember thinking, how can you laugh? My Mum's got cancer, how can you be so fine? Obviously, they could be because they had no idea who my Mum was or how I felt, they had no reason to be sad, but I felt like my world had stopped and everyone else's was carrying on.