Doting dad Jeff Brazier has shared a short but very sweet message to mark his son Freddy becoming a teenager.
The television presenter couldn’t let Freddy’s big day pass without celebrating on social media.
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Sharing a photo of Freddy lounging in a black T-shirt with his hands behind his head, Jeff simply said: “Happy 13th Birthday to the kindest soul I know.
“Proud to say he’s mine.”
It was perhaps a bittersweet day for Jeff, 38, who was clearly thrilled to see his youngest child become a teenager, but no doubt wishing Freddy’s mum Jade Goody was there to join the celebrations.
Jade tragically died from cervical cancer in 2009 at the age of just 27.
Fans were quick to wish Freddy a happy birthday as well, with many saying Jade would be proud of how he and brother Bobby, 14, have turned out.
One wrote: “Happy 13th Freddy turning into a lovely young man your dad is so proud as would your lovely mum be watching over you.”
Another told Jeff: “You have brought your two boys up impeccably. I am sure that Jade will be so very proud of you and her boys. Hope he has had a fab day.”
A third added: “What a young handsome boy!! His mum would be so proud.. happy 13th birthday.”
Jeff raised Freddy and Bobby as a single dad out of the limelight.
It’s only in recent times that he’s started sharing photos and anecdotes about his sons on social media after allowing them to grow up away from fame.
He once joked to Closer magazine that now the boys are older, they have grumbled on occasion that he made them “un-famous” by choosing to withdraw them from the limelight.
“Fame doesn’t faze them,” he said.
“If anything, the criticism that I’ve received since is that I’ve made them un-famous. I don’t think they’re really serious about it, but that has been thrown my way at times.
“That was a conscious decision that I made six years ago… that they needed a normal childhood to come to terms with their loss.”
Jeff also withdrew from the limelight for a while, training as a life coach and bereavement counsellor.
These days he’s a regular on the likes of This Morning and has released a book called The Grief Survival Guide: How To Navigate Loss And All That Comes With It, aimed at families struggling to cope with loss.
Freddy’s birthday isn’t the only thing the family has been celebrating recently.
Jeff took to social media last week to share his pride over PR consultant girlfriend Kate Dwyer’s work promoting the recent BCG Charity Day, in which celebrities take over the trading floor in London’s financial district for a fundraiser.
Sharing a snapshot of the multiple newspapers which ran coverage of the event, proud Jeff said: “Just a load of papers spread out on the floor? Look a little closer and you’ll see it’s all of today’s coverage from yesterday’s BCG Charity Day.
“The reason I’m posting is because I’m very proud of my girlfriend for being responsible for the whole thing and subsequently smashing it.
“I’ve never known anyone to be so capable, hard working & committed as she and for that I give her my total respect.”
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Jeff has hinted there could be wedding bells soon for him and Kate – and says they want to expand the family.
Chatting to Mirror Online recently, he said: “We’ve discussed it – it’s going to happen. I think we’re working our way to it.
“What’s going to be exciting to me is seeing the kids as older brothers – they’ll be incredible. And it’ll teach them about other responsibilities for them.
“It’ll be fantastic for me, too. I’ll get to experience parenting within a relationship and actually be married, because I haven’t experienced that – not even as a child.”
Best of luck!