Derrina Jebb: who is Simon Thomas’ wife - what did presenter say on Instagram after baby born 8 weeks early

TV presenter Simon Thomas has taken to social media to thank the “incredible” NHS staff at Stoke Mandeville hospital, after his wife Derrina Jebb fell “rapidly ill”, delivering their daughter eight week early.

Thomas wrote on Instagram that the neo natal team at the hospital had held his and Jebb’s hands “physically and in spirit the whole way through a very fear filled and stressful day”.

What happened?

Thomas explained on Instagram that he and wife Jebb’s baby daughter had been delivered eight weeks early after Jebb had “rapidly” fallen ill.

He wrote: “Not everything in life goes quite according to plan. One moment we think we’ve got eight weeks until our little one arrives; the next, after Derrina fell rapidly ill, we’re suddenly welcoming into the world a very tiny, but hugely precious baby girl weighing just over three pounds.

“The #neonatal team at #stokemandeville hospital were simply incredible and held our hands physically and in spirit the whole way through a very fear filled and stressful day yesterday.

“I cannot express how proud and blessed I feel right now - I have a beautiful, brave wife in @derrina, a precious son and now a tiny, wonderful daughter and sister for our boy Ethan.

“We have a long road ahead of being in hospital for the next few weeks; but we have the best team around us.

“Thank you Stoke Mandeville, thank you #nhs for being there for us and thank you God for blessing us as a family so much.”

The little girl marks the couple’s first child together, and will be the younger half-sister to Thomas’ son Ethan, whom he had with his late wife Gemma.

Who is his wife Derrina Jebb?

Jebb is a church minister’s daughter who works as a solicitor in the litigation department for London legal firm Ingram Winter Green. Last year, she and Thomas celebrated her achievement of becoming a fully qualified lawyer.

Thomas wrote on Instagram that it was “a proud day as I got to see my wonderful wife finally admitted to the Law Society”.

Her profile for Ingram Winter Green says that she “specialises in fraud, media and insolvency litigation and has acted in reported High Court cases” and that she “advises insolvency practitioners, directors and creditors on corporate and personal insolvency cases”.

Prior to his marriage to Jebb, Thomas was married to his first wife Gemma for 12 years, before she passed away suddenly in 2017 at the age of 40, three weeks after she was diagnosed with myeloid leukaemia.

Thomas revealed that the two were dating in November 2018, with the former Blue Peter presenter saying on BBC Radio 5 Live: “Right from the early stages, she had this empathy towards me. She’s Christian as well and that’s important to me as a man of faith.

“She’s been an incredible support for me. She was the only person who would always pick up the phone. What I saw in her, I saw in Gemma. When she said my phone is always on, she meant it.”

When did they get married?

Following his first wife’s death in 2017, Thomas discussed his grief very publicly, writing about it in his book Love, Interrupted: Navigating Grief One Day at a Time.

He later revealed that it was this openness about his first wife’s death that led him to being more private with his second marriage.

On 5 July 2021, Thomas shared pictures of himself and Jebb on Instagram, and wrote: “So here’s the story. We actually got engaged at the beautiful @lowermillestate. We didn’t share the news because having shared so much of my life over the past few years, this was something special that we wanted to keep to ourselves and those we love until we had got married. To enjoy the joy of being engaged without anybody else knowing.”

He went on to explain that they had originally planned to get married on New Year’s Eve 2020, however due to the Covid-19 pandemic, were forced to reschedule.

Thomas and Jebb eventually tied the knot on 3 June 2021, at Norwich Cathedral.