After leaving Nine’s Today in 2022, Parental Guidance’s Allison Langdon and her husband, Mike Willesee Jr, made a conscious decision to be more measured when sharing their kids Mack, six, and Scout, four, on their public social media accounts.
Coincidentally, the subject of the season two parenting show focuses on just this, with the series focusing on how parents navigate the digital age.
“A big focus this season is to do with screen-time technology and the safety of our kids when they’re online,” Langdon said during an interview with Mediaweek. “We’ve got more parents and we’ve got completely different styles…and what you realise with parenting is that as soon as you do with one issue, something else pops up.”
During the June 5 episode of the series, Honest single-mum Kat was horrified to find out that her daughter would not only share her street address online with a stranger but would also lie about it. In an emotional scene, every single parent, including Langdon, felt for her.
“It hit everyone straight between the eyes,” Langdon admitted. “It’s really interesting with different approaches from different parents, some have had really open conversations about safety online and other parents who don’t, and I feel like I’ve fallen into this category.”
Honest mum, Kat. Nine
Ally Langdon reveals how the Influencer parents changed her perceptions of online
This season, there are “more parents” and “completely different styles” in the spotlight, with one in particular that falls in line with the digital age. Influencers Kat, 36 and Jonathan, 40 and their children Latisha,18 and Deja, 11.
“Their [Kat and Jonathan] kids are online, be really tech-savvy,” Langdon said. “They’re beautiful kids — I mean, I should make the point that all the kids in the show are gorgeous, they’re all really, really lovely kids, so all the parents are doing something right — but the [Influencer] kids have social media accounts and they have hundreds of 1000s of followers. It’s a big part of their life. And I think even just reading about it, I had a whole lot of preconceived ideas.”
Initially, Langdon didn’t know how she felt about the parenting style; however, was shocked to learn that it actually worked.
“It works for them. It works. But I don’t know if it would work for us.”
The Influencers. Nine
Ally Langdon on how she parents and suggests an idea for next season
Parental Guidance is not only popular with parents themselves but also with grandparents, people who are considering having kids, those who don’t have kids and those who assist in raising children, because as we all know, it takes a village!
“Maybe people are comparing to how we were raised or getting ideas for down the track,” the A Current Affair host said.
“When I started filming the show, I didn’t even realise they were different parenting styles. I just sort of thought we had good days and bad days and it kind of blew my mind… Some of the couples have really researched [their style] how they want to raise their kids.
“I think I sort of fall into the majority where we just fall into it but I don’t know a whole lot of parents who sit down and go, ‘Okay, how are we going to do this? And what’s our approach?’
“Maybe that’s an idea for the next season, is that we bring in a whole bunch of parents who’ve never thought about how they parent. They’re just winging it!”
Parental Guidance airs Monday and Tuesday at 7.30 pm on 9 and 9Now.