Are celebs considering the impact of their kids starring in reality TV?

Discussing The Kardashians and co.

Last week Tommy Fury, the ex-Love Islander, professional boxer, brother to Tyson Fury and ex of Molly Mae (TBC - rumours are always spiralling) announced he is releasing a documentary with the BBC.

This comes less than two months after his ex-partner Molly released the first instalment of her documentary with Amazon Prime, Molly Mae: Behind It All, which was initially meant to follow the couple in the lead up to their wedding.

The second half of Molly’s documentary is due out in spring 2025, while Tommy’s is said to “release later this year”.

According to the BBC media release, Tommy “is allowing cameras into every aspect of his life” following his year away from boxing due to a hand injury, which meant “unable to train, his life span out of control”.

In case you’ve not watched Molly’s doc, it follows her in her day-to-day life with a specific focus on hers and Tommy’s separation, motherhood, and the launch of her clothing brand Maebe. In a recent vlog on a shoot in St Moritz, Molly shared that the documentary crew had come with her on the trip and even shared Inception-esque clips filming the crew, filming her.

Molly’s vlog thumbnail

If Tommy’s documentary is expected to share “every aspect of his life”, I can only imagine it will also delve into his side of their break-up and his experience of fatherhood.

Now, I love Molly-Mae and I’ve not got much of an opinion on Tommy either way - but has anybody checked on their daughter?

Bambi Fury turned two on January 23rd of this year. I’ve no doubt Molly and Tommy are both fantastic parents, but I can’t help but wonder how their filming of separate documentaries must impact her.

Filming of Molly Mae: Behind It All

When my parents separated, I was around the same age Bambi was when Molly and Tommy announced their split. My parents are incredible (as I’m sure Molly and Tommy are) but a breaking/broken home damages a child, no matter what their age. Lots and lots of changes, new routines, no mummy and daddy time, no longer sleeping in the same place every single night… it’s a lot for a little brain. Pair that with two different documentary crews following you and your parents around carrying big, bulky equipment - it must surely be confusing.

There’s a specific clip in Molly Mae: Behind It All where Molly is putting Bambi to bed and is on the phone to Tommy for him to say goodnight. Bambi is looking towards the camera at the film crew and it made me wonder: is this any good for a two-year-old’s bedtime routine?

Molly regularly vlogs her daily life (I, for one, am a fan) and Bambi is often in those videos. But there’s a difference between being out and about with your mum filming on a portable camera, compared to huge crews, massive sets, lighting etc etc. Surely it must be overwhelming for such a little one.

Now, with the announcement of Tommy’s documentary, that’s multiplied by two.

As I’ve already said, I really like Molly Mae and I’m sure they’re both great parents. But I fear they may not have considered the impact of this ‘access all areas’ lifestyle on their daughter in years to come. It took me a very long time to get to grips with my own parents’ separation, and none of that was being documented for television.

It’s not all Molly and Tommy. In fact, they’re a super small, relatively-un-problematic part of the wider issue; in Molly’s doc and her vlogs, Bambi is very much allowed to be herself and I praise Molly for sharing the highs and lows of motherhood in such a candid way.

At the other end of the scale is the Kardashian ‘empire’. The family is on a different level to virtually everyone on earth, but where Tommy and Molly are showing their child on their limited series, the Kardashian-Jenner clan have documented almost every single waking moment of their children’s lives.

The Kardashians promo shot

Kourtney and Travis Barker’s son, Rocky, is the newest addition to the family and is the fourth of Kourtney’s children to have their birth filmed and used on their shows (either KUWTK or The Kardashians). Could you imagine that? Your literal birth being documented and broadcast for millions to see?

It’s not just Kourtney. Almost all of the Kardashian-Jenner generation (or Jenneration, if you will) have children. While brother Rob isn’t on their current show, exclusively on Disney+ in the UK, the sisters all share the stage with their youngsters.

At 15, Mason Disick is the oldest of the new generation and his birth was aired during Season 4 of the original Kardashians reality show. Since then, he’s rarely known a life without the cameras and his siblings and cousins have followed suit.

Birthday parties, family vacations, school runs, day trips… so much of their childhoods is accompanied by an entire crew that we never see on screen.

Though I don’t keep up with the Kardashians much, I know there’s growing concern over Kim’s eldest, North’s behaviour and use of social media. Entertainment Tonight even has a YouTube compilation of North’s “shadiest moments”.

This is a child. She isn’t even a teenager yet. Should she be exposed to the world in such a way that she’s already being critiqued and ridiculed? This is mostly based on how she’s presented on her family’s reality show - and I’m not sure what level of consent these children can give.

As I said earlier, the Kardashians are in a league of their own and I recognise their hectic schedules and wider fame will also impact their children, but when there are people filming in your home for days, weeks, months at a time, that has to play a part in your development, surely?

Jenner siblings Kendall and Kylie have had their lives televised since the first series of Keeping Up, when they were aged 12 and 10 years old respectively. They are essentially the ‘guinea pigs’ of this new era of reality TV where the subjects’ children are brought up in front of the cameras.

In an episode of The Kardashians that aired last year, Kylie - then aged 26 - opened up to Kendall about how the opinions of the public regarding her looks have affected her.

Through tears, she said: “People have been talking about my looks since I was 12, 13.”

I’m sure we all have our own opinions on the Kar-Jenners, and their influence on beauty ideals is a topic for another post, but surely we can all agree that no child should be put on such a huge platform that their looks are critiqued from the age of 12?

You could argue they didn’t know how huge the show would get, but they know the level of their fame now and they’re still willingly putting their children in the spotlight. Interestingly, from what I’ve seen of their newer show (though it’s not much), Kylie’s children aren’t in it as much which is possibly quite telling.

Kim et al know the impact reality TV fame had on Kylie growing up, yet they all still allow their children to be filmed for their show. I get it - it’s reality - but if they’re already seeing the long-term affects it’s having on the first gen, why are they not doing more to protect their own children?

Are we part of the problem?

“We” is a collective term for any of us tuning in. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t devour Molly Mae: Behind It All or that I don’t love her raw, open vlogs that often feel like I’m on FaceTime to a friend.

I’d also be lying if I said I’d never binge-watched a Kardashians series for some degree of escapism.

But as the consumers, we have the power to steer with our feet. If we don’t agree with the way something is produced we can choose not to watch it. It might not make a difference with the likes of the Kardashians (who are too huge to care), but it might make the next reality TV star question whether they want their children on screen for the world to see.