Holly Willoughby became emotional as she spoke with campaigner Ellen Roome MBE about the risks social media poses to children, admitting that the thought of something similar happening to her own family "doesn't bear thinking about."
The 45-year-old presenter was joined by Roome for the third episode of her YouTube show Together, available from Tuesday 4th August. Roome's 14-year-old son Julian "Jools" Sweeney died in unexpected circumstances in April 2022.
Roome has since campaigned for a change in the law, calling for bereaved parents to be given greater access to their children's digital data and for social media companies to take greater accountability for the content young people see.
'Such a scary thing'
Holly, who has three children, Harry, 17, Belle, 15, and Chester, 11, shared her own fears: "For all parents out there, I think that and speaking on my own behalf with this as well, it's such a scary thing social media and you want to protect your kids. And the fear is something like what happened to you, will happen to your own child, and it doesn't bear thinking about."
She added: "I think people want to get on board, because they want to do something and they want to see change. They want to protect their kids."
Holly said parents can struggle to confront the issue: "Sometimes as people we don't really want to look into the dark corners because it's too much. How can you bear that? How can you hold that pain?"
She also rejected the idea of banning social media outright: "There might be people that will say, 'Ok ban social media,' but all that's going to do is push our children into corners of the internet, you know you think we have the wild west now, but we can't imagine what's out there. What then? What do we do then?"
Legal victory
Last month Roome achieved a first in the UK when she won her battle to have Jools' inquest reopened after the original conclusion was quashed at the High Court. She wept as judges granted her bid.
Ellen tells her story in full in episode three of Holly Willoughby Together, available on YouTube and other digital streaming platforms from 7:00am on Tuesday 4th August.
