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Carrie and David Grant have said coming to terms with their child Olive’s non-binary identity was ‘not a big deal’ for them.
The singers are parents to Olive, 28, who uses they/them pronouns, and Tylan, 21, Arlow, 17 and Nathan, 13, who they adopted as a baby.
Speaking on GB News with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, Carrie, 57, told how the couple didn’t make a big deal over when Olive said they would prefer to be referred to as they/them.
She said: ‘Olive, their pronouns are they/them. It’s not a big deal for us. They are who they are. Olive is Olive.
‘I don’t stand there everyday going, “oh my gosh you’re non-binary.” I just look at my child and they’re still my child.’
Candid: Carrie and David Grant have said coming to terms with their child Olive’s non-binary identity was ‘not a big deal’ for them
Family: The singers are parents to Olive, 28, who uses they/them pronouns, and Tylan, 21, Arlow, 17 and Nathan, 13, who they adopted as a baby
When asked how the couple were asked about ‘gender issues’ by Eamonn, David, 66, said identities similar to non-binary have been in other cultures throughout history.
He said: ‘For those people that it’s a problem, more and more you’re finding people in society are trying to define who they are beyond the labels we’re given at birth.
‘In our society, it’s considered to be a new thing but in the history of human life, some of the oldest writings from 2,400 BC they were talking about different genders. In Indian writings, writings in north and south America.
‘The whole issue of gender being binary in the life of the world is fairly recent. We look at our children as our children. They haven’t changed at all.’
Their three biological children were born female, but now identity as non-binary.
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Olive, Arlow and Nathan have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) while Tylan and Arlow both have autism.
During an appearance on Loose Women, Carrie insisted she wouldn’t have it any other way, but admitted raising children with learning difficulties is an uphill struggle.
She said: ‘They’re incredible – they’re absolutely bonkers, but wonderful. They’re outside the box, and because of that they’re magical, amazing, with incredible, expansive imagination.
Interview: Carrie told how the couple didn’t make a big deal over when Olive said they would prefer to be referred to as they/them
Carrie said: She said: ‘Olive, their pronouns are they/them. It’s not a big deal for us. They are who they are. Olive is Olive’ (pictured with Olive, L, and Tylan, R)
‘But it also comes with challenges, it comes with how do you work with schools that don’t necessarily want to work with your children? They don’t want to make the adjustments.
‘How do you work with a child who’s on suicide watch? We had three years with a child who was on and off suicide watch, and that’s going to change you as a parent.’
David added: ”They put the funk into dysfunctional… we discovered on the same day that two of our children are on the autism spectrum.
‘One of our children has ADHD – I don’t know where that came from. Actually, we have THREE children with ADHD.
‘We have dyspraxia, we have dyslexia, we have dyscalculia, which is the numerical version of dyslexia.
‘Somebody should shout “House!” Because we’ve got all our ducks in a row. ‘
Former Fame Academy coach Carrie previously admitted she is supportive of her children, saying she took time to ‘grieve’ after discovering that she ‘doesn’t have daughters anymore’ before ‘moving on’.
