Entertainment
Lottie Tomlinson on grieving mum and sister in the public eye: ‘There was so much support – but everything you do is judged’-Louise Griffin-Entertainment – Metro
Lottie bravely opens up about grief after losing her mum and sister.
Lottie Tomlinson has opened up about grief (Picture: Dave J Hogan/Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images)
Lottie Tomlinson has opened up about grieving her mum and sister while being in the public eye, saying that while she received a lot of support, she also felt very ‘judged’.
The star lost her mum Johannah Deakin aged 43, in 2016 following a battle with leukaemia. In 2019, she also lost her younger sister, Félicité, following an accidental drug overdose.
Now partnering with Sue Ryder for their Empty Chair campaign, which raises awareness of the difficulty surrounding meal times for those dealing with grief, Lottie told Metro.co.uk what her experience was like.
She said of being in the public eye while grieving: ‘It was definitely a nice thing because there was so much support and there was always so much love given to us online, and from the fans.
‘So for me, it was really nice but I guess at the same time, it was hard because everything is kind of judged, what you’re doing and how you’re coping with it, and the ways that you’re dealing with it. But overall, I had some really amazing [support].’
Lottie added of her grief: ‘It’s something you’re always working on and trying to find new ways to deal with it. I think I’m lucky that I’ve got to the point I’ve got to in my grief and I feel good in the way I live my life and cope with it now. But it’s still hard and it’ll always be there. I think it’s about finding ways to cope with it.’
Lottie with her brother Louis, and mum Johanna (Picture: Twitter)
Lottie also lost her sister Felicite (Picture: Twitter)
As for why she wanted to be involved in the Sue Ryder campaign, Lottie went on: ‘I’ve suffered two losses in my life, my mum and my sister.
‘That’s the reason I really wanted to be involved with Sue Ryder, because once I got to a good place in my grief, I wanted to try to help people do the same and I didn’t really know where to turn when I was grieving and [I realised] all the good work Sue Ryder do.
‘They have so much help on offer for people that are grieving and perhaps don’t know where to turn. So that’s why my work with them is really important to me’.
Lottie partnered with Sue Ryder for their Empty Chair campaign (Picture: Mark Wheelwright)
She welcomed her baby son Lucky earlier this year (Picture: Mark Wheelwright)
‘The Empty Chair campaign is basically a campaign to represent the difficulty around meal times, so a lot of people grieving will find meal times really hard, as there’s often an empty chair there which makes it even more apparent that the person’s missing,’ Lottie explained.
‘And it means people often skip meals when they’re grieving for that reason so I really wanted to be involved in this because I think it’s a really good way to bring attention to that and just to get us talking a bit more about grief because it’s still such a taboo thing that we don’t like to talk about and I think if we can all start talking more about it, it’ll help people to cope better.’
Through being open about her grief, Lottie has also managed to help others.
‘That’s something that I actually love, it’s when I get messages from fans with their situations and I often reply and chat people through things and that’s really special to me.
‘That makes me want to work with Sue Ryder even more because I think a lot of that is off the back of the work I do with them so it really makes it mean a lot that even if I can help one person, I’ll keep doing it.’
Lottie is supporting Sue Ryder’s latest campaign, The Empty Chair, which aims to encourage family and friends to be Grief Kind by offering those who are grieving a seat at their table so that no one has to go through grief alone. For more information, please visit sueryder.org/griefkind.
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