Why Lucy Watson Loves Raising Her Toddler Vegan – A Look at Her Son’s Favourite Foods and Family Life
Lucy Watson shot to fame in 2012 after joining the main cast of Channel 4 show Made in Chelsea. She’s since become known as a fierce advocate for animals and vegan living. Now, she’s happily married with an adorable young son named Willoughby, and the family are all thriving on a plant-based diet.
Lucy became a huge hit with fans on Made in Chelsea due to her humour and no-nonsense personality. She also regularly spoke about being a vegetarian while on the show, once memorably criticising her co-star Jamie Laing’s brand of sweets for “having meat in them” (Candy Kittens has since, thankfully, gone fully vegan).
After learning more about the dairy and egg industries, where gentle cows and chickens are bred, confined, and killed, Lucy decided to go fully vegan in 2016.
What Lucy and Her Family Eat at Home
Lucy enjoys nutritious, whole-foods-based meals. She regularly shares her cooking on social media and discusses the benefits of vegetables, grains, tofu, fruits, and other vegan whole foods.
She has had two cookbooks published – Vegan Food Award winner Feed Me Vegan and Feed Me Vegan: For All Occasions. Some of her staple meals at home include scrambled tofu, wholewheat pasta and vegan pesto, and vegan chilli, which she also feeds to her family.
Lucy got together with her Made in Chelsea co-star James Dunmore in 2015. They got married in Greece in 2021 and welcomed their baby, Willoughby, in March 2024.
James also follows a plant-based diet, and the pair have regularly opened up about their decision to raise Willoughby vegan. “We didn’t even really have to discuss it. It was a no-brainer for us,” she previously told Mother and Baby. “We’ve been plant-based for so long, it just felt natural.”
Willoughby’s Favourite Foods
Willoughby’s diet also prioritises whole foods like brown rice, quinoa, fruits, seeds, and nuts. Some of his favourite foods include tofu ‘egg’ fried rice, avocado, vegan meatballs, quesadillas, sweet potato and butternut squash mash, and dairy-free mac and cheese with wholewheat pasta.
See the gallery below for some of Willoughby’s meals:
Lucy has emphasised that it’s far easier than people think to follow a plant-based diet as a family.
“I love cooking, but you don’t have to,” she said. “My husband doesn’t enjoy it and still makes great meals for Willoughby. It’s about flavour and variety, not perfection. Even something like scrambled tofu with garlic and turmeric. It’s so easy, and he loves it.”
In January 2026, Lucy announced that she would be releasing a new cookbook, Feed Me More Veggies, focusing on the plant-based meals she cooks for her son.
Myths About Vegan Diets for Kids
There’s a great deal of misinformation about vegan diets for children, with some sensationalist headlines inaccurately describing them as inherently unhealthy. But this is false. It’s the view of the NHS and British Dietetic Association that vegan diets are suitable for people of all ages – including babies and children.
It’s of course important to make sure you’re feeding your child the right nutrients – but that’s true of all diets and isn’t unique to plant-based ones. Many studies have shown that varied and nutritious vegan diets rich in whole foods are benefit health and reduce disease risk.
Lucy has received unfair pushback from trolls for her decision to raise Willoughby vegan, but has said the toddler is thriving and reaching all developmental milestones.
Lucy’s Vegan Journey
Lucy grew up on a farm that kept animals. When she was five, she came home one day to find that a lamb she considered her companion, named Maisie, had been sent to slaughter. She decided to stop eating meat soon after.
When she was in her early twenties, Lucy had a dream that she was a cow who gave birth to a baby, only to have them taken away. She put the dots together and realised that she had in fact dreamed the reality of what happens to cows on dairy farms.
It was the 2014 documentary Cowspiracy that made Lucy go vegan overnight. The film follows Kip Andersen as he discovers the significant – and at the time largely unheard of – impact that animal agriculture has on the planet, as well as what animals are put through in the meat, dairy, and egg industries.
‘This Morning’ Interview and Other Advocacy
Lucy famously appeared on This Morning to speak about the cruelty of eating animals ahead of Christmas 2018.
In the viral clip, she debates an Exeter turkey farmer named Matt Carter, who was seen standing in his farm holding a turkey via video link. When pressed by Lucy about what he meant by “ethical slaughter,” Carter appeared to become flustered and repeatedly refused to answer the question despite Lucy pressing him. Eventually, he admitted that they “slit the turkey’s throat,” prompting Lucy to bluntly say “ok”.
Lucy has been an outspoken advocate for vegan living in all aspects of her life. She has stated that she got rid of her designer bags soon after going vegan and that she makes “conscious fashion choices” that exclude fur, down, leather, and wool.
Lucy Watson’s PETA campaigns
PETA has collaborated with Lucy on several campaigns covering fashion, food, and more.
She bared all in a campaign showcasing that all animals – including humans – are made up of the same body parts.
In 2023, Lucy discussed the shocking cruelty of cashmere in a PETA video exposing farms where goats are restrained and have fur shorn roughly from their skin.
“When you’re shopping, remember this footage and the pain in their eyes,” she said. “Please, vote with your wallet: never buy cashmere.”
After watching our exposé of the down industry, she also urged shoppers to always choose cruelty-free bedding.
Lucy is steadfast in her commitment to vegan living and animal advocacy, regularly attending protests and using her platform to raise awareness. “Veganism is a promise I made to the animals,” she previously wrote on Instagram. “One I will never break. no matter what.”
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