Is My Anxiety Normal? Raising 26-Week Premature Twins: Traitor’s Leanne Quigley
Born at 26 weeks, Traitors' Leanne Quigley's premature twins are starting school. Can she overcome her anxiety and let them thrive? Part 1 of 2.
Leanne Quigley won series 3 of the hit BBC reality show The Traitors, but her toughest challenge is at home. Her twin boys were born extremely premature, at just 26 weeks, and the thought of them starting school fills her with anxiety about their health. Can she overcome her worries and let her sons thrive?
Leanne is joined by her co-champion from The Traitors series 3, dad-to-be Jake Brown, and fellow contestants Paul Gorton and Leon Jackman, both parents of young children. Together they talk about the challenges of parenting and the big milestone of little ones starting school, the moment Leanne is dreading most.
As Leanne gets the boys ready for nursery, she reflects on the health problems they have faced since their premature birth, from frequent ambulance trips to the inhalers she gives them to manage their breathing. A new school feels daunting when their nursery knows them, and their medical needs, so well.
Visiting her mum, Leanne looks back on her life before children, including her fearless years in the army, and how much becoming a parent has changed her. She worries constantly about germs and the boys falling ill. Watching everything her daughter has been through since the twins' birth and their time in neonatal intensive care (NICU), Leanne's mum gently observes that Leanne is "riddled with anxiety".
To help, Leanne joins mindfulness walking group Mind over Mountains in the hills of Wales. As they walk, she opens up to psychotherapist Yvonne Rose about her worries and the intrusive thoughts she lives with. Yvonne shares simple techniques, like naming the anxiety and saying it out loud, to help take away its power. Later, at the gym with her friend Mel, Leanne reflects on how the advice is helping her prepare for the boys starting school. She also posts on Instagram, asking other parents of premature babies and twins how they feel about the same milestone, and is moved by the flood of reassuring replies.
The Traitors gave Leanne friendships that have lasted, with fellow contestants Minah Shannon, Leon Jackman and Livi Deane among those still close. When she learns her co-winner Jake Brown is expecting a baby, Leanne arranges to meet him, with a surprise up her sleeve. What she doesn't know is that a surprise is waiting for her too... a message from none other than The Traitors' host herself, Claudia Winkleman.
