Today on Good Morning Britain, host Susanna Reid spoke to the parents of Bebe King and Elsie Stancombe, who were tragically murdered at a dance workshop in Southport last year, as they pay tribute to their beloved daughters.
Speaking in their first TV interview, the parents of six-year-old Bebe King, described their daughter as affectionate, beautiful and fun, as they told Susanna about her hopes and dreams, and how they “thought that whatever she did, she was going to move mountains”.
Bebe’s mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said:
“As parents it’s really important to be able to remove Bebe from the past couple of weeks. She was a human being. She was a beautiful, funny, crazy, gorgeous girl and her legacy can’t be defined by what happened. I feel like a lioness and I’ve got to protect my child, and I’ve got to make sure people know that she isn't defined by this.”
She continued: “We thought that whatever she did she was going to move mountains. I really, really hope that this isn’t all for nothing and in spirit she can still make an impression on the world, and the nation, and she can help the future by protecting children.”
Bebe’s father recalled “I mean she had me wrapped round… I’d do anything.” he says.
“She was so affectionate. She loved hugging. Every morning she’d come in to me and say ‘morning Daddy’ and she’d get in bed. We'd have a hug and it was just lovely. That’s what she did all the time. She’d just say I love you Daddy.”
Bebe’s mum added: “We’d just look at each other and know what each other thinks. She was my best friend.”
“She loved Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé because I’m a bit of a Beyoncé fan. She’s there singing away. She got a cowboy hat for her birthday didn’t she. She just was never…nothing bothered her. She was like yeah ‘let’s just have fun’.”
Describing Bebe’s love for Taylor Swift, Bebe’s mum told Susanna how it was a love she had only really developed that year. “It was ‘Love Story’, she used to just belt it.” she said. “She’d dance in the mirror. She was always singing, always dancing.”
She added: “We met her [Taylor Swift]. She was back in Wembley and she asked to meet us personally. She was very lovely… It was quite overwhelming but we needed to do it for Beebs didn’t we, and we just wanted to. It was all these little glimmers that we had to find in those moments. We needed to find some light in the dark.”
Discussing their bracelets, Bebe's mum said: “It’s been quite a nice distraction for me grieving, to have something to do. I’ve made them for everybody.”
Bebe’s dad added: “It’s just her name there. So I can just see it everyday you know… I don’t know if you saw outside the Atkinson in Southport where the floral tributes were laid. There was a string just full of bracelets with all of the girls' names on. It’s like an ongoing theme and it means something doesn’t it.”
Discussing how they are trying to find light and love, Bebe’s mum said: “Since day one we’ve said to each other, we have to live for her. We have to live how she would have wanted us to live and make the most of our lives really. It’s quite important to us that we choose to push forward as much as we can with light and love and live the best we can for her.
“Be more Bebe, that’s what we say.”
The parents of Elsie Stancombe also spoke to Good Morning Britain about their ‘special’ daughter, who was just seven years old when she was killed in the Southport attack.
“It was a privilege to be her mum”, Jenni Stancombe says, “I was so proud of her. The effort that she put in everything. The love that she gave, not just us, her friends, her teachers..”
“She was so brave, she was really really brave.” added her father, David Stancombe. “Elsie was like the glue of the family, she re ally was. She was special.”
Asked by Susanna how they are doing, David replied: “I think we’ve been living in six months of shock…It’s like it wasn’t happening to us.”
With Elsie’s mum, Jenni adding: “We kept ourselves in a really tight bubble. I think we came to the realisation as the sentencing approached that the bubble was probably bursting because we couldn’t protect ourselves as much as we had hoped.”
“We promised ourselves that every morning we get up we would have a shower and we get changed and never ever stay in our pyjamas and never ever stay in bed because that’s not who we are as a family, and Elsie would never have wanted that.”
“We represent Elsie and our actions and how we hold ourselves is a representation of her. She was so much more than that school picture.”
Trying hard to hold in his emotions, David described how he still feels ‘guilt’ and ‘anger’.
“All the kids there had every right to be there, and every right to feel safe” he said.
With Jenni adding: “We just dropped her off to dance and make bracelets. That’s all we did…If we had been there it wouldn’t have happened. I might not be here but I would never have let that happen… I’d swap with Elsie anyday.”
Telling Susanna how there needs to be some accountability for what happened, Jenni said: “If someone’s made a decision that has resulted in an element of failure, then there needs to be accountability for that. And I believe that the announcement of the inquiry will do that. It will hold people to account for the decisions that they’ve made.”
David added: “At the time I didn’t know what Prevent was, but now I know he’s had encounters with them. It goes without saying he’s obviously come into contact with these services. It doesn’t bring Elsie back does it.”
“I’d hate for anyone to go through this,” said Jenni.
Discussing their recent meeting with the King, David told Susanna how it was so “genuine”.
“We actually showed him things of Elsie doing cheerleading, or in a park playing or whilst we’ve been on holiday. He was interested to see where she was on that one, or was she having a nice time, or how old. So it did feel genuine and sincere.”
Jenni added: “You can see the hurt in people’s eyes when you speak to them. Everyone was grieving for us and we still feel that now and since then it’s felt like the whole country has.”
Jenni and David also described how they have received letters from all over the country offering support since the death of Elsie. “We kept every single one," said Jenni. “We didn’t feel alone.”
Elsie’s parents told Susanna how Elsie would watch the “Eras Tour on Disney+ every night” and how she was a “devoted Swiftie”.
“If Elsie knew that Taylor knew her… it would be like all her dreams had come true.”
“She just idolised her. And the show side of things, that’s why she loved the recording of the Eras tour so much…From such a young age she had a natural flair to design and be really creative. We got her a sewing machine, she just loved it” said Jenni.
Asked how they keep going, Jenni said: “We’ll always be Elsie’s mum and dad and no one will ever take that away from us, and we always said from the start that we won’t let evil win this.
“Our town, our country has shown us nothing but support, compassion and love. We felt like we wanted to do that back. So we have started a charity called ‘Elsie’s Story’. We feel like it’s our duty as her mum and dad to continue writing Elsie’s story for her.
“So many times we said we will never feel true happiness again ever. We might just feel a little bit of something when we see another child smile for Elsie.
“It’s giving us purpose.. It can’t be in vain. I won’t allow it. Whether that’s through change through the public inquiry or whether it’s through Elsie’s story, we always want to do her proud don’t we.”
Good Morning Britain, ITV