‘We tackle it as it comes’: Tiktok creator family delve into online realities ahead of TV debut
TikTok creator of the year Kat Clark reveals secret to international success ahead of TV debut and it’s easier than you’d think. See how.
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TikTok creator of the year Kat Clark, 37, is bracing for backlash when her ‘non-typical’ parenting style debuts on reality TV.
She’ll join husband Jonathan, 40, and daughters Latisha, 20, and Deja, 12, on season two of Channel 9’s Parental Guidance.
The Gold Coast family said they wanted to share their unconventional parenting and influencer lifestyle to a wider audience as a way to counteract the negative narrative around kids and social media.
“We’re not your typical family,” Ms Clark said.
A full-time social media influencer, the Burleigh mum has amassed more than 4.4 million TikTok followers and her daughters are following in her footsteps.
“We get a lot of judgment,” Mr Clark said.
“We always get looked at like we don’t know what we’re doing, so we thought the show would be a good opportunity to show people that we’re not just winging it – we have actual methods to our madness.”
The couple said they take a non-strict parenting approach, “fostering respect, appropriate behaviour and communication”.
“We will probably get some backlash from those parents who are dead against social media and the digital age, screen time and the rest of it – but I also think we will get quite a lot of support from parents who agree with us,” Mr Clark said.
“The points we bring across on the show – if they’re shown in a way that we intended – will probably sway a lot of people in their thinking of how they can incorporate social media and digital technology into their parenting and the importance of it now and in the future.
“You can try and restrict your kids as much as possible, but they’re going to find a way to get around your rules because that’s the way it is with kids.”
Ms Clark said they had been managing online safety with their 12-year old Deja and her 270,000 Instagram followers.
“We tackle it as it comes,” she said.
“I still monitor her account fully – I go through her DMs, I check her comments – she doesn’t even read her comments – she is so unfazed.
“She’s seen me when I would read every comment in my early days and it would start to affect me emotionally – she’s seen what it can do when you do read those negative comments. “She learns a lot from us and we also have those conversations if they arise on just how to stay safe.”
The secret to the family’s social success, according to Ms Clark, was authenticity.
“I just went on there (TikTok) sharing my life, being real, being honest,” she said.
“I think people just appreciate seeing the real side to people instead of … I guess on Instagram there’s a lot of heavily filtered photos and it can come off fake, whereas TikTok, I’m making TikToks in my dressing gown and just having conversations with people. I think people love that.”
Parental Guidance premieres on Monday at 7.30pm on 9 and 9Now.
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Originally published as ‘We tackle it as it comes’: Tiktok creator family delve into online realities ahead of TV debut
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