Aussie TV host’s heartbreaking plea on Instagram

Beloved TV presenter Barry Du Bois has shared a heartbreaking post about his 12-year-old daughter on Instagram.

TV presenter Barry Du Bois has shared a heartbreaking post to social media about his daughter.

The veteran presenter star shares twins Bennett and Arabella with wife Leonie, whom he married back in 1999.

In a touching post on Instagram, Du Bois revealed that he has been struggling to find a way to help 12-year-old Arabella, who is being bullied.

“I just watched my little girl walk out the gate of our home, a place where I know she is safe and feels a sense of security and belonging,” Barry said.

Barry Du Bois with his twins Bennet and Arabella. Picture: Instagram.

“She is heading to a place that doesn’t offer that same security, her school. As a parent, I’m supposed to protect and guide her through difficult times, but this morning, I am lost.”

“Yesterday, Arabella came home from school claiming she was sick,” he continued. This isn’t the first time it has happened. She wasn’t actually sick but is instead being bullied again.”

Du Bois then urged his followers to give him some advice on how he could help alleviate his daughter’s turmoil.

Du Bois said that his daughter has pretended to be sick so she can avoid bullies at school. Picture: Supplied.

“What do you say to a child when you’ve already said, ‘Don’t let them upset you. Just keep being kind. You are not the horrible things they say’.”

“She said, ‘I don’t want to be special; I just want to be liked’,” the TV star added before revealing he felt “weak, angry, confused and a little fearful”.

Following the touching post, some of Du Bois’s celebrity followers shared their own advice.

“My mate sent his daughter to Jiu Jitsu after being bullied. She fell in love with it and gained another level of confidence,” wrote The Bachelor Australia star Tim Robards.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to go up to the parents and say, ‘your kid bullies mine’,” added Married At First Sight’s Ryan Gallagher.

School for students Down Under can be a pretty tough experience. In fact, according to a 2020 OECD report, Australian schools have some of the highest bullying rates in the world.

Earlier this year, Du Bois told The Good Enough Dad podcast that he had one big fear about being a father.

“OK, so we all have really big fears and worries (about parenting),” parenting author Maggie Dent said. “Is there one fear that you hold about, you know, parenting and raising your children?”

Looking thoughtful, Du Bois said: “Not parenting... the only fear I have is not being here for them if they need me.”

Originally published as Aussie TV host’s heartbreaking plea on Instagram