Rio Ferdinand's heartbreaking reason for not talking about his wife's cancer battle
Rio Ferdinand, the former Manchester United and England defender, has opened up on his mental health battle and not speaking about his late wife's fight with cancer
Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand has revealed the reason behind why he did not open up on his late wife's devastating battle with cancer.
Ferdinand's first wife, Rebecca, died from cancer at the age of 34 in 2015. She had been first diagnosed with the illness in 2014, but kept it private while receiving treatment.
However, after getting the all-clear, the cancer returned and spread to her bones. And just five weeks after she was told by doctors that her condition was terminal, Rebecca tragically passed away.
Ferdinand did not speak to his former or current teammates at United about the issue at the time.
But now, a decade on from his tragic loss, Ferdinand has revealed a conversation he had with Wayne Rooney when the pair were going through personal struggles they had gone through.
READ MORE: 11 Chelsea games Cole Palmer is set to miss after Enzo Maresca confirms big injury blowREAD MORE: Crystal Palace's private stance on Adam Wharton future as Man Utd change transfer planSpeaking to The Times, Ferdinand said: "It's built in, in men, not to talk."
Ferdinand is hoping to change the stigma around men's mental health by providing a 'safe space' for people to talk about their issues on his Rio Meets podcast on YouTube.
Rooney admitted he does regret not talking to Ferdinand about his issue during an appearance on the podcast earlier in 2025, saying: "Not just me, but the other players are thinking, why didn't we do more to allow you to come and talk to us?" Rooney even added that he believes he "would be dead" without his wife Coleen.
Ferdinand said of that conversation: "I was like, 'Wow, I didn't anticipate any of that coming'. We were just fortunate Wayne felt comfortable enough to be so open. I've seen Wayne in low situations.
"We lived and shared and breathed a life of football together, so I'm going to see things other people haven't, but I never knew about a lot of the things he told me."
Ferdinand is, however, glad that progress has been made that players have more space to talk about their own mental health battles, claiming that it was something his generation didn't have.
He is also pleased his two sons Lorenz, 19, and Tate, 17 - who are both in the Brighton academy - would be open to speak about any issues they might have.
As well as speaking to Rooney, Ferdinand reflected on the chats he had with Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen on his podcast due to how open people are now, compared to the dressing room environment he was used to.
This is a modal windoWe were just fortunate Wayne felt comfortable enough to be so open. I’ve seen Wayne in low situations. We lived and shared and breathed a life of football together, so I’m going to see things other people haven’t, but I never knew about a lot of the things he told me.”
Ferdinand said: "The thing I say to all footballers, past and present, is we've now got the best opportunity to shape the narrative. This is the best era. My generation never had this.
"We could never have come to the media and said, 'I'm feeling really low, I might need a couple of months off because of depression. I have certain things going on at home. I'm having problems with drink.'
"There'd have been huge headlines and people would have just gone 'what?' We'd have been hammered. But I'd love to have seen what it would have added to our teams. If we'd been able to be a bit more open and talk about these types of things, I genuinely believe it would have helped.
"I don't think we would have been allowed [to express our struggles]. People would have put negative slants on our names, our whole personae would have been different.
"You've got to look at someone like Wayne Rooney. Or Steven. These are gunslingers. Roy of the Rovers types who can drag a 20-man squad out of the mire. How would that have been allowed if they were looked at as a bit of a 'weak touch' in terms of mental capacity and whatnot back then?"
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