Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha has spoken out about a new problem many parents face as their children grow up – loneliness. The TV presenter and her husband Mark Adderley were discussing on their podcast, Confessions of a Modern Parent, about how as children grow up, there's less people to turn to and be able to talk about the parenting problems that they are experiencing, for fear of judgement. Nadia said that while everyone is good at offering advice to each other when they have babies, it's not the same when they have teenagers. "I think it's so, so hard on ourselves as parents to not reach out to people – you have to make sure that this person really cares about you that's for sure. When someone does reach out to you, you then have to give an honest answer," she said.
Nadia Sawalha opened up about the problems parents with teenagers face
"We want our parents to see us being really good parents and to see us being better parents than they were," Nadia added. The star's husband also opened up about how he finds it difficult to share problems without them being dismissed, simply because he is married to someone from the television. He said: "I feel there's an additional component for me, and this is an odd component – but because you are Nadia Sawalha off the telly – and I know Maddie and Kiki have spoken about this too, but there's an assumption that they can't be going through the same problems. There's this strange concept that if you are off the telly you aren't going through the same problems."
MORE: Peter Andre's daughter Princess reveals her dad's hilarious parenting fail
Nadia and her husband Mark Adderley with their daughters Maddie and Kiki
Nadia and Mark are parents to Maddie, 17, and Kiki, 12, and discuss different aspects of parenting on their podcast each week, ranging from teenage drinking, to mental health and discipline. Nadia and Mark have been running a YouTube channel for the past few years, which features their daughters and the star's parents and sister, who live next door to them.
READ: Alex Jones shares sweetest photo of husband and son Teddy
The former EastEnders actress home-schools her children – something she regularly talks about. In 2017, she opened up about the reason she decided to take her daughters out of school while talking to HELLO!. The star revealed that they had been "excelling" since they left their private school education, saying: "They struggled in class and really thought they wouldn't excel in anything. But ever since I took them out of school two years ago, they've become more confident and passionate and are brimming with enthusiasm to learn."
Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.
