Holly Valance’s father-in-law, Tony Candy, died six weeks before the birth of her first child, but she has made sure that his name will live on.
The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant and her husband, Nick Candy, have given their daughter the name Toni.
“She was born a few days ago,” Candy tells Mandrake at the Wonderland Ball held by the Reuben Foundation to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. “We have decided to call her Luka Violet Toni Candy.”
The property developer says: “Her nickname will be LuLu, but, obviously, if she ever goes into business, LuLu Candy just doesn’t quite work. My father’s nickname was always TC.”
Holly, 30, who starred in the Australian soap opera Neighbours before becoming a pop star and television presenter, did not attend the event at Bridgewater House in Westminster, where guests included Princess Beatrice.
“Holly is at home,” her husband says. “We aren’t having any help at the moment. Holly doesn’t want any; she wants to do it all ourselves at this stage, but that might change – it has only been a few days.”
Candy, 40, adds: “She is a perfect mother. It was a natural birth. She is from a big Australian family, with younger siblings, so she knows exactly what she is doing.
“It is such a shame that dad died six weeks before Luka was born, but I had the best role model possible in him, so, hopefully, if I can be anything like the father he was to me, when it comes to raising Luka, we’ll be onto a winner.”
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