Susanna Reid and Kerry Katona sparked a tense moment on Good Morning Britain when the presenter challenged the singer over letting her daughter, Dylan-Jorge, use social media at eight.
Kerry appeared on today’s show (Tuesday, July 21) with her daughter Heidi, 19. They discussed how Dylan-Jorge, now 12, became interested in adult skincare after watching beauty videos online.
Heidi, who works as an influencer, said her younger sister had picked up ideas from popular clips. She explained how those videos shaped what Dylan-Jorge wanted.
She said: “I think she was seeing a lot of Get Ready With Me, the trend of having glass skin, I understand, it’s all she’s seeing so she just wants to be like her friends. I think she’s just copying what she sees.”
Susanna Reid Kerry Katona row began with one blunt question
The chat turned awkward when Susanna pressed Kerry on the age issue. She did not dance around it.
Susanna asked: “I’m gonna say something a bit spiky here, Kerry. Why is an eight-year-old on social media?”
Heidi quickly defended her mum. She said Kerry had been “really tough” with her and did not allow her on social media until she was 13.
Kerry argued that parenting has changed fast. She said children now grow up around screens and trends from a very young age.
She said: “We had Avon, we had this, we had that, I’ve had every generation of children.”
Kerry added: “I’ve repopulated the world alone with all my children. Molly is 25 next month, she was nine when she had her first iPad.”
She continued: “What I have noticed with all of my children, is how the generations have changed, and how older, despite how younger they are, they have gotten, so each trend and each generation, it has changed.
“And as much as I try to keep her off it, everybody else is doing it. It’s hard.”
Susanna then softened her point. She said: “I’m not criticising you, I’m only saying,”
Kerry replied with a joke. She said: “I mean normally I just put her in a dog cage do you know what I mean? So it was either that or a tablet or iPad there you go kid!”
What left Kerry stunned before the Susanna Reid Kerry Katona clash?
Before that exchange, Kerry opened up about the skincare craze among very young children. She said a trip to Boots left her shocked.
Kerry said: “I went to Boots, and there was all these eight year olds, droves of kids, at all these different products and I was like ‘I don’t understand why you need all this skincare.’ and Heidi said ‘I told you a million and one times Mum, this is getting out of hand'”
Heidi backed tougher action. She warned that “adult beauty standards are being force-fed down kids’ throats through social media,” and supported a ban for under-16s and age warnings on skincare products.
The debate comes after plans were announced for a social media ban for under-16s. The plans also include overnight curfews for 16 and 17-year-olds from Spring 2027.
Away from the studio, Kerry recently revealed that Dylan-Jorge moved into a state school after her private school closed. She said her daughter felt upset by the shorter summer break.
Kerry shares Dylan-Jorge with her late husband George Kay, who died in 2019. She also shares Molly and Lilly-Sue with Brian McFadden, and Heidi and Max with former husband Mark Croft.
Susanna and Kerry’s exchange quickly became one of the standout moments from Tuesday’s programme.
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