People News

Jo Wood regrets being afternoon mother

Mar 1, 2013, 11:01 GMT

Jo Wood

Jo Wood was an 'absent parent'.

The former model was married to Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood for 26 years before divorcing in 2009 and she has admitted the couple's one-time 'out of control' drug-fuelled lifestyle meant she often neglected their children.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's 'Woman's Hour', she said: 'I was an after two o'clock mother. The nanny would do the morning, I'd do the afternoon. I was up until four, five every morning, get up at about two. My life was upside down for years. In the music business you stay up all night - maybe it's because of the drugs - and sleep all day.'

The 57-year-old mother revealed that she and Ronnie, 65, spent a 'crazy' 18 months binging on drugs, including smoking cocaine with fellow celebrities in Los Angeles, while their kids were left at home.

She said: 'They didn't see what was going on. They just thought they had absent parents. I wish it hadn't happened. We were out of control for a year and a half.'

The couple raise four children together - Leah and Tyrone, as well as two sons from previous relationships, Jamie and Jesse - and Jo's desire to be a 'great mum' helped her overcome her drug issues

She explained: 'I'm very lucky. I got to a point and turned round and said, 'I can't do this anymore.' I wanted to be a great mum and I knew I wasn't, so I stopped. I think I'm really a very fortunate person that I was able to. Ronnie carried on for three years and the more I saw him to do it, the more I thought, 'I'm never going to do that again.' '