Jonathan Ross clarifies whether he instigated daughter’s diet after ‘toxic’ claims-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro

Jonathan Ross has addresses his daughter’s teenage dieting (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for InStyle)

Jonathan Ross has emphatically denied instigating his daughter’s harmful dieting when she was a teen.

The TV host, 63, shares Honey Kinney, now 27, with his wife Jane, 53. They also have Betty Kitten and Harvey Kirby.

Four years ago, youngest child Honey said her mum and dad presented her with ‘absolutely toxic’ diets after she struggled with body image issues growing up.

Honey said her parents saw weight loss as a ‘solution to the problem’, as she ‘hated’ her body at the time.

Speaking on Loose Women in 2020, she said that, from a young age, she didn’t ‘have any control over [her] image’ before utilising Instagram to ‘express [herself]’.

She continued: ‘I have parents who were raised in the same society as all of us. They saw me, a teenage girl coming home saying, I hate my body. 

Honey Kinney is the TV star’s youngest daughter (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage)

‘[My parents] tried to give me solutions to a problem I brought to them, which was to lose weight. They presented me with diets and diets, as we know, don’t work and are absolutely toxic.’

Honey then advised other parents to ‘keep that as far away from your children as possible’.

However, in a new interview with The Times, Jonathan denied pushing diets on Honey.

‘Honey did struggle at school because we found out she was severely dyslexic,’ he began in the chat published last week.

‘She also developed some body issues when she very young and we could see it was making her unhappy.’

Jonathan added that he and Jane fully supported Honey when she wanted to stop dieting: ‘She talked about getting fitter and going on a diet, which Jane and I tried to help her with. Crucially, though, the minute that Honey said she wanted to stop the diet, we said, “Great!” 

She now posts body-positive content online to her thousands of followers (Picture: Instagram)

Honey struggled with her body image growing up (Picture: Instagram)

‘Some of the headlines have hinted that we were the instigators of the diet, but we took our cues from Honey.

‘We loved her dearly and we wanted her to be happy.’

Jonathan went on to praise his daughter, declaring her a ‘smart adult’ as Honey now dedicates her time to sharing body-positive content online.

On his thoughts about his daughter’s social media posts, where she shows off her curves, Jonathan noted: ‘Did I talk to her about the dangers of being in the spotlight? Absolutely not!’

He hailed her as ‘a smart adult, old enough to make her own decisions and her own mistakes.’

Meanwhile, Honey herself was full of praise for her ‘wonderful father’.

She is incredibly close with her dad, hosting a weekly film podcast together (Picture: Instagram)

Honey hailed Jonathan as a ‘wonderful’ father (Picture: Samir Hussein/Getty Images)

In the Times interview, the self-love activist explained how the chat show how helped her to become ‘happy with [her] body’.

‘I’m not a parent but know that it’s not easy. When I went through the phase of hating my body, Mum and Dad were the first people I spoke to.

‘Even when I turned into a feminist in my teens, Dad supported everything I did. “Yes, dear, I’ll sign up for your campaign”.’

Honey then acknowledged how people often question why she chooses to ‘put [herself] out there on Instagram’, posting photos of her size-18 body in swimwear.

‘Because at 27, I feel happy with my body,’ she stated proudly.

‘Sure, I still have bad days, but Dad helped me see that I don’t have to listen to all the nastiness.’

Jonathan has been married to Jane Goldman since 1988 (Picture: Jon Furniss/WireImage)

Jonathan has helped Honey to understand that the criticism ‘doesn’t matter’ and, as a father, he ‘has been everything [she’s] ever wanted.’

‘A wonderful man with a heart of gold.’

Honey is incredibly close with her famous dad, hosting a podcast with him called Reel Talk where they discuss all things film.

The influencer and her partner Zane Saz also joined Jonathan on Celebrity Gogglebox in 2021, alongside Jonathan’s eldest son Harvey, 29.

As for eldest daughter Betty, she suffers from a series of chronic health conditions, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and postural tachycardia syndrome, which she raises awareness of online.

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