David Tennant’s wife Georgia says some of their kids are neurodiverse

David Tennant’s wife Georgia has opened up about their life at home – revealing that several of their children are neurodiverse.

The actress and producer, 40, who married the Doctor Who star in 2011, said they only eat together as a family once a year because two of their five children have special requirements.

Georgia and David share son Ty, 23 – Georgia’s son from a previous relationship, whom David adopted – Olive, 14, Wilfred, 12, Doris, ten, and Birdie, five. 

Neurodiverse is a term used by some to describe people who have brains that work differently from the average person, encompassing conditions such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia and Tourette’s. 

‘I don’t understand how people sit around and all eat together,’ she said on Russell Howard’s Five Brilliant Things podcast. 

‘We’ve got a lot of neurodiverse kids so a couple of them don’t like eating around other people. They go and eat in separate rooms.’ 

Georgia, daughter of former Doctor Who star Peter Davison, added: ‘A couple of them won’t eat the same food, so we have to cook a different meal for them. 

‘Mealtime is like two and a half hours of me wandering around the house serving different people in different rooms.’

Georgia added that as a result, the family rarely eats together as a unit. 

‘We never [eat together]. Christmas, I think we do,’ she said. ‘Every now and again, we’ll go to a pub and we’ll all sit down and it’s just a f***ing nightmare. I just want to go home. 

‘They’re crawling on the table, one’s got headphones on. It’s just like, no.’

Studies suggest that about 15 to 20 per cent of the population are neurodiverse. 

Georgia’s journey to motherhood began unexpectedly at 16 when she had Ty, who is now an actor and has had roles in series including War of the Worlds and House of the Dragon.

‘That was obviously not planned, but it was actually so much easier when I was 16 because I didn’t have any preconceived ideas about how difficult parenting was,’ she reflected.

‘He was really easy and lovely and great. And I was able to work and so that was a really positive experience. Probably if that hadn’t been so positive, I might not have gone on to have four more.’ 

Georgia and David, 54, met on the Doctor Who set in 2008 when she played his genetically engineered daughter, Jenny, in the episode Doctor’s Daughter. 

They struck up a romance and married in 2011, after which David adopted Ty.

‘I got together with my husband and I was like, well, we want to add another one. And then they came out and they were already great. And then there was one time where I got a bit drunk and then another one came out – but also great.’

Despite the daily challenges of managing a diverse household, Georgia says she wouldn’t change anything about her unconventional family setup.

‘I like how different they are,’ she added. ‘It seemed weird that two people can keep creating such a different smorgasbord of humans. And that’s really fascinating.’

Georgia added that she has her own particular relationship with food, preferring everything to be kept meticulously separate – a trait she’s only recently embraced fully.

‘A very good friend of mine is a potter and she made me a plate for my 40th, which was separated into little areas because she noticed that I didn’t like any of my food to touch,’ she revealed. 

The custom plate has eight sections, allowing Georgia to control how she consumes her food. ‘I can have a meal and I can put – like a child – all of the separate things on the plate, and then I’m in control of what I put together.’

Georgia explained that she’s only recently felt comfortable acknowledging her own needs and preferences, after years of trying to conform to what she thought was ‘normal’.

‘I’ve always been like that, but I’ve not really come out of myself until like the last five years,’ she said. ‘I think I was really annoyed and really confused for a long time with why everyone liked living in a sort of chaotic state.’

‘I just thought, no, this is really unappealing. I just want to know exactly what I like… As long as nothing is touching, I’m completely in control of everything. I’m very happy.’

While Georgia prefers her food separated and controlled, she says her husband David has completely opposite preferences – something that amuses rather than frustrates her.

‘This is a man who likes a sandwich with many, many things inside it,’ she said. ‘He really likes a potato, he really loves a big old sandwich. It’s just not for me. But it brings him so much joy.’