Jacob Rees-Mogg will regret putting his children in the spotlight – I did it

I buried my face in my hands as Jacob Rees-Moggs’ 15-year-old daughter Mary turned to the camera and admitted that she and her family had posh accents.

It’s a moment like so many others, which will spawn a thousand memes when Meet The Rees-Moggs airs on Discovery+ from December 2.

The breathtaking show follows Jacob Rees-Mogg and his family in the run-up to and after the July 2024 elections, which saw the polarizing MP lose his seat in North East Somerset and Hanham to Dan Norris of Labour.

Producers must have been rubbing their hands with glee when the former Tory MP agreed to allow cameras into his home(s) to film family life.

It’s perfect reality TV fodder and great publicity for him – but his kids? Allowing cameras to film them in their home, where they should feel safe, is likely a decision he will regret.

I know this, because I did the same thing to my children and they didn’t forgive me.

Eleven years ago, I applied to take part in a Finnish documentary called Au Pairit Lontoossa about au pairs working in London.

I had a free Finnish au pair for six weeks from the production company in 2013. It was a godsend as I desperately needed help with the kids so I could focus on my work as a freelance journalist.

Plus, I loved the idea of ​​being on a TV show to add a little glamor and excitement to my otherwise mundane existence.

An au pair called Mira Lepistö moved in with us in October 2013 and every week a Finnish TV crew came to our house to film. My husband said he didn’t want to get involved, but my daughters found it exciting and the process went smoothly. It was fun and the crew was lovely.

However, when I watched the footage, I was shocked to see how precocious my daughters were – but only because they performed in front of the cameras, just like Rees-Moggs’ aged son Sixtus six-year-old, does so when asked about his father and says, ‘His breath stinks.’

A great TV moment but one that will undoubtedly torment the poor boy for years to come. I can only imagine the teasing he will receive from his school friends.

A few years ago, a friend of my daughters discovered Au Pairit Lontoossa online, took a sound clip of her and edited it into a fun video. No malice was intended and although my daughter accepted it graciously, she admitted to feeling embarrassed and told me she hated the way she presented herself on television.

Her sister felt the same way and both were angry that I had exposed them to unwanted attention.

After watching the first episode of Meet The Rees-Moggs, Jacob Rees-Mogg and his wife Helena seem to enjoy looking silly on TV without trying to tone down their behavior.

At first it seems like they’re having sex, then you realize they’re really dressing in black tie for dinner on a Friday night, while the rest of us are taking advantage of a great deal .

Their eldest children, Peter and Thomas, are safely away from the camera at the boarding school in the first episode, but they appear in publicity shots for the series, and I fear that along with her other children – six-year-old Sixtus , Alfred, eight, Anselme, 11, and Mary, 15 – they are at risk of being horribly bullied.

They may have given their permission to appear on the show, but they’re too young to understand the consequences — like trolling, bullying, or just plain embarrassment later.

When you appear in print or on television, a past version of yourself is preserved for eternity. The content is easily accessible and can come back to haunt you. What if a future employer saw it? Or a new partner?

Children are not an extension of their parents. They rely on adults to protect them and preserve their privacy.

Adults with big egos are welcome in the spotlight and I admit I was fascinated to see that the Rees-Moggs have the same nanny, Veronica Cook, who looked after Jacob when he was a baby (poor woman looked exhausted) and sat there. gawking at the size of his 17th-century country pile with a crew seemingly the size of Downton Abbey: I saw cleaners, ironers, gardeners and a odd-job man.

However, watching the Rees-Moggs kids behave in front of the cameras made me cringe. None of them fare well because, unlike their famous father, they had no media training or life experience to draw on. They could end up as collateral damage for his public relations purposes.

It’s great television but it should have left the kids out of it.

Let’s hope, for his sake, that they will forgive him.

Do you have a story you would like to share? Contact us by emailing [email protected].

Share your views in the comments below.

MORE: Why More Straight Men Should Watch RuPaul’s Drag Race

MORE: This Morning is Broken and One Big Change Can Fix It

MORE: ‘Harassment can take many forms – but we can build a future where it is no longer the norm’