Gemma Collins shares plans to become a foster mum - 'There's a lot of love to give'

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TOWIE legend Gemma Collins has revealed her desire to become a foster mum.The 43-year-old reality star, who is engaged to Rami Hawash and is already a devoted stepmother to his six-year-old son Tristan, has been inspired by her own mother Joan Collins' adoption story.

Speaking on ITV's ' Good Morning Britain today (Friday, October 4), Gemma said the topic was very close to her heart because her mum was fostered as a baby. "There's a lot of love I can give.

I always make a good dinner!" she said. She also mentioned seeing her mum's adoption papers which had instructions for sewing her clothes, saying: "I saw [mum's] adoption papers and it was so sweet, they'd put on there like 'You need to sew her clothes'." The pair have recently been working with the National Fostering Group, which estimates that there's an urgent need for 12,500 new foster carers in the UK. "This is the message we want to give to people: if you have space in your heart, space in your homes, please foster," Gemma's mum Joan said.The pair have been working with the National Fostering Group, whose regional director Neil McCarthy recently revealed: "We know that there is a national shortage of foster carers across the UK and that has gone up by 14% this year." The Group said there was an estimated 26 million spare bedrooms in England and Wales alone, and only one in 10 people were considering becoming a foster parent.

With the recent rise in children needing homes due to the cost-of-living crisis, Gemma also urged viewers to consider fostering, pointing out there are "so many rooms that are spare in London and across the UK".