Peter Andre has recalled his horror after his daughter Princess was sent ‘gross graphic images’ by men online.
The singer, 53, has previously called for social media to be banned for under 16s, and in a new interview shared the ‘stress’ he’s endured after seeing the vile messages his daughter received.
Last year Princess began starring in her own ITV series The Princess Diaries, and a clip from the first series showed the moment she showed her dad Peter some of the vile messages she’d received.
The presenter shares son Junior, 20, and Princess with his ex-wife Katie Price, and he and his wife Emily are parents to Amelia, 12, Theo, nine, and Arabella, 12 months.
Peter admitted that it ‘hit differently’ when it happened to his own daugher, calling the messages ‘gross.’
Peter said: ‘You know what people are like. You know what the world is like. But it still hits differently when it’s your daughter.
He went on to tell The Sun: ‘I just don’t understand at what point men think it’s OK to send photos of their genitalia; the guy doing it, what’s he thinking?
‘I think really it’s just men doing it, it’s gross and stresses me out.’
Peter has previously said he ‘fully supports’ calls for social media to be banned for under 16s, writing in his column for New Magazine: ‘Australia has implemented their social media ban for under 16s, and it’s great.
‘When people ask me if it’s a contradiction that I’ve had my kids on social media, we have to remember that when social media first started, we were all new to it. We didn’t know the pitfalls of it.
‘Now, we’re seeing what AI can do; that’s why our youngest children are not on it. I fully support the ban.
‘I know that’s not what kids under 16 want to hear, but it will do them so much good. I hope the rest of the world catches on. The dangers are so real.’
When the first series of The Princess Diaries was broadcast in August, viewers saw Peter’s reaction to the ‘disgusting’ messages his daughter had received.
Princess was 17 at the time and was filmed speaking to a friend about some of the more negative sides of having a big social media presence and fame at a young age.
Princess says to her friend of the messages: ‘Usually it’s like old men, going on about my toes Sometimes they’ll be like, ‘let me take you on a date’.’
In a solo section to camera she added: ‘I can’t even read this message out, it’s actually disgusting.
‘I do love my job and I do love social media and I do love interacting with people but there is a dark side to social media that people don’t see, and there are a lot of inappropriate messages that yeah some of them can be horrible.
‘Like I’m literally 17, that’s actually not OK.’
Later in the episode in a scene with her dad Princess mentions to Peter some of the messages she has been getting.
When he enquires as to what they are asking her for she replies ‘mostly feet pictures’.
An alarmed Peter then says: ‘Please God that’s the only thing they ask for.’
Princess then divulged to him that some of the men also ask: ‘Are you finally legal now?’
Peter immediately covers his face with his hands and says: ‘Oh my God Biss I didn’t think it was going to be like that…
‘That really made me feel sick, like in the pit of my stomach. I hate it because you’re still my baby.’
