Rebecca Adlington reveals how she and Harry Needs co-parent daughter

Rebecca Adlington has revealed she is not a ‘strict parent’ with daughter Summer, five, who she co-parents with ex-husband Harry Needs.

The swimmer, 31, said that people expect her to be harder on her daughter because of her experience of training for the Olympics.

However, Rebecca said that she and Harry, 28, who is a former swimmer himself, have adopted a ‘good cop and bad cop’ style of parenting.

The Olympian said that she is a soft parent, hinting that Harry takes the role of ‘bad cop’ in the candid insight into their life as exes.

Rebecca and Harry married in 2014 and split in 2016, after 18 months of marriage.

Talking to The Sun, Rebecca said: ‘We call it good cop and bad cop. When she was born everyone thought I would be the bad cop — because of my sports background, I am quite tough…

‘I’m like, “No, let’s do it, we can do this”. That is my kind of mentality. To be a sportsperson you have to be like that.

‘And I think everyone was like, “Bec is going to be the bad cop”. But I am definitely not the bad cop. I get told off for being too soft with Summer.’

Rebecca is due to welcome her second child in 2021, her first child with her boyfriend Andrew Parsons.

Earlier this month, the mother-of-one was every inch the radiant mother-to-be as she shared a glimpse of her blossoming baby bump during a romantic hotel break to Cheshire.

The Olympic gold medallist took to Instagram to share a trio of snaps from the babymoon to celebrate Andrew’s birthday.

Clad in a black swimsuit, Rebecca was glowing as she stroked her stomach after relaxing at the Carden Park Hotel in Chester.

Rebecca also shared a loved-up selfie with boyfriend Andrew as they celebrated his birthday with the low-key break.

In the caption, Rebecca, who is around 28 weeks pregnant, gushed it was the first she’d felt ‘truly relaxed in months.’

She wrote: ‘What a lovely weekend! Had the best time celebrating @andrewparsons5 birthday and enjoying our little baby moon.

‘Amazing food, incredible spa and the first time feeling truly relaxed in months. Can’t wait to come back to @thespaatcarden @cardenparkhotel already!’