The series, which follows the couple from early pregnancy through labor and meeting their baby son Ziggy, promises an unfiltered look into their lives. Multiple reports indicate that Sophie Habboo gave birth to her son Ziggy in December. The documentary captures her pregnancy, during which she battled crippling pain in her pelvic bone, according to major media sources.
Filming during this period presented significant challenges. Sophie Habboo found having cameras follow her during her first pregnancy challenging and anxiety-inducing, as she noted on social media. She also described hormonal fluctuations, stating she was not herself and found pregnancy hard at times.
I'll just say that our team that filmed with us really filmed everything - we filmed for about nine months and they were with us the whole time. There were times where I thought, 'That surely isn't going to be kept in. That's not going to be aired', and then watching back, I'm like, 'Ugh!', but it's life.
Postpartum, she is experiencing hair loss, and on social media she questioned the efficacy of eating her placenta. The series includes a birth scene that was filmed by Sophie Habboo's anaesthetist, according to major media sources. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Sophie Habboo described how the anaesthetist took her phone and filmed the entire birth, leading the couple to include the footage after feeling emotional about capturing the greatest day of their lives.
The couple emphasized their commitment to authenticity in the project. Multiple reports indicate that Sophie Habboo and Jamie Laing promised to keep the series real and show everything. On social media, Sophie Habboo reflected that it was scary to have a camera documenting her not at her best but they always promised to keep it real.
It was constant, nearly a breakdown every day.
According to Daily Mail - Home, Sophie Habboo described their filming approach as pretending the cameras weren't there to maintain rawness, while Jamie Laing described their goal to create a wholesome show that shows a true, real, raw journey with all its ups and downs. However, the series also reveals relationship tensions. According to Daily Mail - Home, Jamie Laing described thinking at one point Sophie Habboo was going to divorce him, with days so intense he believed it was over.
In a trailer for the series, Sophie Habboo described Jamie Laing's behavior as unacceptable, according to major media sources. According to Daily Mirror - 3am Showbiz, Sophie Habboo specifically described an incident where he went behind her back as unacceptable. The specific topics or incidents that caused these explosive rows remain unclear, as does how the couple's relationship has evolved since the rows depicted in the series.
I thought at one-point Soph was going to divorce me! It was either going to be divorced or one of us was going to murder the other... There was one day which I thought, 'That was it. It was over'.
According to Daily Mail - Home, Sophie Habboo described the period as nearly a breakdown every day, and according to Daily Mirror - Main, she noted struggles in their relationship over sharing on podcasts and social media, though she realized for the TV show they needed to show everything. Critical reception or viewer reactions for 'Raising Chelsea' are yet to be seen, and it is unknown what measures, if any, the couple took to manage the stress of filming during such a challenging life period. According to Daily Mail - Home, Sophie Habboo described times where she thought footage wouldn't be aired but it was kept in, highlighting the unfiltered nature of the series.
According to Daily Mirror - Main, Jamie Laing described not forcing Sophie to film the birth scene, and according to Daily Mirror - Main, Sophie Habboo described initially not wanting to film it but embracing it as part of their real story.
Well, Sophie married someone who really loves to be behind the camera, in front of the camera, has recorded and documentary everything forever. We sort of followed our journey with it... and this is the evolution of that. We thought if we could create a show that wasn't really just about drama, but actually wholesome, made people laugh, show a true, real, raw journey... The ups and down, the lefts and the rights, we thought that it would be an interesting show, and so when Soph and I went into this, we said, 'We're going to be real'. Most people, if they say, 'Oh, we're showing our true lives,' they're not actually really showing their true lives. They're probably holding back quite a lot. This genuinely is showing everything because we were so used to having cameras there, and it's nerve-wracking because people are always going to judge, people are going to have their opinions... but we were determined to show everything.
I'm a massive reality TV show fan, but I feel like over time some have become quite staged and produced. I personally miss the rawness of everything. We just really went into it pretending the cameras weren't there.
I mean I'd love to know the answer too. My hairs falling out by the second. I mean I ate my placenta? Not sure if it did anything?
I won't lie I found it challenging at times! It was my first pregnancy and I was very anxious about everything and so to have cameras following you was full on at times.
I was also not myself, my hormones were everywhere. I found pregnancy hard at times, ngl. And even harder to admit that because everyone talks about how magical it is but the reality was for me, I was so up and down.
So it's quite scary to have a camera documenting you probably not at your best but it's what we signed up for. We always promised that we would keep it real and my God we really did!
But you just go behind my back, that’s so unacceptable.
We always have this struggle in our relationship with the podcast, with social media, online, everything. Jamie would want to share every single thing, and I more so find that a little bit scary. However, with this TV show, after we started filming, we quickly realised, well, I realised, that it wasn't going to work unless we showed everything.
And with the birth scene, we really didn't expect to go in there. I didn't actually want to film that, but it's there and it's real and that is the story and that is what happened. I've just gone for it.
I didn't force Sophie to film the birth scene.
What actually happened was my anaesthetist took my phone and filmed the whole thing! When I'd given birth and we were looking through the photos, we were like, 'Oh my God, the whole thing's been filmed'. And actually, it made us feel really emotional and obviously it was the greatest day of our lives. We thought 'Do you know what? It happens, it's real life' and we put it in there.