{"id":288321,"date":"2026-02-17T13:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/288321\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T13:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:29:12","slug":"kate-ferdinands-ultimatum-to-rio-over-dubai-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/288321\/","title":{"rendered":"Kate Ferdinand’s ultimatum to Rio over Dubai hell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kate and Rio relocated to Dubai last year\"Kate<\/p>\n

@Dave Benett\/Getty Images for Burberry<\/p>\n

She\u2019s been open about her struggles since relocating to Dubai last year, recently admitting that while husband Rio loves their new life<\/a>, she\u2019s missing home a lot. And now, heat has learned that Kate Ferdinand<\/a> has issued her other half an ultimatum.<\/p>\n

\u2018Kate can\u2019t see them being in Dubai forever. She has told Rio she will give it until the end of this year. Then, if she\u2019s still unhappy, they have to reconsider, even if that means splitting their time between there and the UK or spending more time apart,\u2019 says our source.<\/p>\n

\u2018Kate has been very candid about her feelings and while she knows how lucky she is, she\u2019s worried Dubai will never feel like home. She never particularly wanted to move out there full-time \u2013 it was all on Rio and the opportunities for his business and the kids. He has never been happier.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"kate<\/p>\n

Kate and Rio live in Dubai with three of their children \u00a9Cedric Ribeiro\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kate, 35, and Rio, 36 \u2013 who owns a successful sports media company \u2013 moved to the UAE last year with hopes of a fresh start, but the former TOWIE star has failed to settle into her new home. Kate \u2013 who shares Cree, four, and Shae, two, with Rio \u2013 hasn\u2019t shied away from sharing her reservations<\/a> about the relocation.<\/p>\n

Speaking on her Blended podcast earlier this month, she fought back tears as she spoke about being homesick. \u2018I think it\u2019s an amazing place to live, I think it\u2019s amazing for the children. The children are thriving and happy and living a life of just outside freedom. Rio loves it so much. I am enjoying it, but I miss home quite a lot. I can\u2019t talk about it because I get upset,\u2019 Kate said.<\/p>\n

In January, Kate \u2013 who is also stepmum to Lorenz, 19, Tate, 17, and Tia, 14, from Rio\u2019s first marriage to late wife Rebecca Ellison \u2013 revealed she was struggling with motivation following an overwhelming Christmas in the UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018I don’t have that kickstart January feeling like I normally do,\u2019 the former reality star said in an Instagram video, adding that she was \u2018very emotional and fatigued\u2019. She\u2019s also made no secret of how much she misses her stepsons Lorenz and Tate, who both stayed in the UK to pursue careers in professional football.<\/p>\n

And now, insiders say the situation is leaving Kate torn, and her worries about her stepsons<\/a>are only increasing. \u2018Kate feels guilty about not enjoying Dubai like she should, but she can\u2019t help how she feels and sometimes she feels her needs are put last. The younger kids are loving it, but they also had a very good life in the UK,\u2019 we\u2019re told.<\/p>\n

‘The more she\u2019s away from the older boys, the more upset she gets. She hates the fact they\u2019re trying to get on with their careers and doing it alone. She worries people judge her for leaving them when they are still young. Rio is a lot harder than her and he\u2019s said if the boys want to make it as footballers, they must make sacrifices.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"heat<\/p>\n

GET THE BEST CELEB INTERVIEWS IN HEAT MAGAZINE EACH WEEK \u00a9Bauer Media <\/p>\n

And, withKate and Rio<\/a> having such conflicting feelings, the pair are said to be struggling to understand one another.<\/p>\n

\u2018Kate\u2019s hoping this will pass, but she is starting to learn that being happy isn\u2019t about being in the sun and going out to nice restaurants. She had a nice life in the UK and was building up her career, but Rio can\u2019t understand why she\u2019s not embracing Dubai as much as him,\u2019 a source adds.<\/p>\n

\u2018She\u2019s not sure she can do this much longer, but if he had his way, he\u2019d stay out there forever. He ideally wants the boys to play for a Saudi team rather than slogging it out to try and make it in the Premier League. Kate has said Rio needs to make more of an effort while she\u2019s struggling and be a bit more understanding.\u2019<\/p>\n

WATCH: Love Island’s Konnor and Curtis speak out about those Movie Night scenes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kate and Rio relocated to Dubai last year @Dave Benett\/Getty Images for Burberry She\u2019s been open about her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":["post-288321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}