Mo Gilligan shares rare insight into fatherhood as he talks 'bringing my children into my universe' after welcoming baby with fiancée Taia and a 'secret love child' with model ex

Mo Gilligan has opened up on becoming a father, calling it 'the one part of life you never know about until you experience it', in rare comments about his two children.

The comedian, 37, welcomed his baby with his fiancée Taia Tulher last summer and fathered son Rudi, two, during his brief relationship with Selina Christoforou.

While he usually keeps details of his personal life private, Mo got unusually candid about his kids during an appearance on Elizabeth Day's podcast, How to Fail.

He revealed one of his favourite parts about fatherhood was getting to 'bring my children into my universe', describing the joy and excitement he got from watching them learn from him 'in real time'.

The TV presenter gushed: 'Fatherhood is great. Fatherhood is the one part of life you never know about until you experience it. No one can tell you, you can't learn it in a book. It is experiencing it in real time.

'I think knowing that I am my children's universe, like they learn from me, they see it from me.'

He then recalled his emotions after bringing son Rudi to get his first haircut and reflecting on his own experiences at the barbershop when he was a child.

'My son, he just turned two and he's at an age where he's talking and stuff, I went to take him to get his haircut for the first time last week,' Mo explained.

'The barbershop is a place that I spent many a Saturdays where my mum would do a shop and leave me there and I'm like, “oh, I'm here with all the grown folk”. 

'Taking my son to get his hair cut and even before going in the shop, he was like, “oh no, I'm scared”. I'm like, oh, okay.

'So just sitting with him and seeing him experiencing, you know, the barbershop essentially, which is a hub for the black male community where as a child, you hear conversations that you're like, "Oh wow, these are some grown conversations". 

'But everyone gets treated the same once you're in the chair, you can be a elderly man, you still get a haircut, you'd be a young kid, you still get your haircut.'

He went on: 'And seeing him scared, but also knowing he just grabbed onto me and I'm his universe. I'm bringing him into my universe. 

'So he is experiencing this in real time, and it's just those little like gifts of life that you sit there and you go, "Wow, this is an exciting moment. This is the universe and I'm going to show you how to do this and you’re learning in real time."

'That's what I really enjoy about fatherhood at the moment. I really, really, really enjoy that.'

News broke that Mo and Taia, 28, had welcomed their little one over the summer in September last year, with the couple choosing to keep the baby's name, gender private.

It was also revealed that he had popped the question to the model - who was seen wearing the dazzling diamond ring in her Instagram posts. 

The Daily Mail revealed at the time that the Masked Singer star 'went the full nine yards' to propose to the influencer, after two years of dating.

A source said: 'Mo went the full nine yards in proposing to Taia but kept quiet about it publicly. They have been telling friends that they are engaged and everyone is really happy for them.

'He and Taia are so in love and really excited to be starting a family together. They already live together in London so it felt like the natural next step to get engaged.

But another insider told The Sun: 'There aren't immediate plans for a wedding yet, though. The baby will keep their hands full for a while.' 

The couple's engagement and baby news came only weeks after it was first revealed that Mo had already welcomed a son, with ex-partner Selina in January 2024.

The model, 35, was said to have become pregnant after dating Mo after they met online, and decided to keep the unborn child, despite it coming as a shock to the 'careful' pair. 

The revelation came to light after Selina publicly blasted the TV personality for failing to offer any support and claiming he had showed no interest in their child in the first year of his life.

In a viral TikTok video, she claimed she could 'count on her fingers and toes' how many times Mo had seen their son in the 17 months since his birth.

Sharing her version of events, she said: 'I just finally posted on Instagram about my son's dad so for your information...

'If you don't follow my Instagram I don't blame you. Um, Mo Gilligan is his 'dad'. Very much in quotation marks.  

'I've kept that for nine very long months of being pregnant on my own, bringing up my son on my own.

'Pretty much ignored his existence for the first year of his life, barely bothers with him now - can probably use my fingers and toes to count how many times he's even f***ing met him, you know. 

'I kept thinking no, it'll get better. It has to get better. Rudi, that's my son, he's so unbelievable, he's the most amazing child. He's such a f***ing joy and I just kept thinking that would be enough.

'I completely get you can't make someone be a dad and he made it also very clear he didn't want to be a dad and seemed to kind of change his mind.'

Following Selina's blistering attack, Mo then shared a rare video of his son, showing the little boy enjoying some quality time with his father.

The brief black-and-white clip featured the youngster, whose identity was concealed, gazing up at the camera while playing a game. 

Mo then reportedly broke his silence on Rudi and Selina's comments in November, while onstage doing stand-up at a south London pub.

According to The Sun, he told the audience: 'He's a very lovely boy. A very, very lovely boy and despite whatever you see on social media, his mum is a good mum.

'I'm not here to disrespect. That's the mother of my child. And I would never disrespect her publicly because she’s raising my son. 

'He’s very polite. He's very kind, he's very loving.' 

Mo is said to have then made a joke about paying child maintenance for Rudi, quipping that if he was ever seen appearing on Antiques Roadshow: 'You’ll be like, "The rent is due".'

How to Fail with Elizabeth Day is available wherever you get your podcasts.