Kelsey Parker shocked the co-host of her podcast and their listeners with her ‘irresponsible’ and controversial comments on suncream.

Pregnant mum-of-two Kelsey Parker says she never puts shop-bought SPF on her children, opting for homemade ‘organic suncream’ instead.

The widow of The Wanted singer Tom Parker, who tragically died from brain cancer in 2022, made the controversial remarks on the Mums the Word! podcast she co-hosts with her friend Georgia Jones.

Many parents will recognise the struggle it takes to put suncream on kids and the conversation was provoked after Georgia asked for tips on how to apply suncream on Cooper, the seven-year-old son she shares with her husband, McFly star Danny Jones.

But instead of offering helpful advice, Kelsey dropped the bombshell that she never uses suncream on her own kids, daughter Aurelia, 5, and four-year-old Bodhi, saying, ‘It’s bad for you, that sunscreen.’ She even went on to claim that ‘sun cream causes skin cancer.’

Most parents will agree that they apply suncream on their children to help prevent skin cancer and damage from the sun’s rays. Indeed, the HSE recommends that children wear suncream so that they stay safe on sunny days. They say:

Use sunscreen or sun cream that:

Read the HSE’s advice for sun safety here.

Kelsey went on by saying, ‘My kids, we went on holiday, I never put sun cream on them and they do not burn. But you’ve been putting sun cream on probably since birth.’

Kelsey’s advice to Georgia was to keep her son out of the sun before sharing her recipe for homemade suncream made from ingredients including beeswax.

Probably echoing what their listeners were thinking, Georgia said, ‘I just wasn’t expecting this was the way it was going to go. I thought you was just going to give me advice on how to do it.’

Kelsey, who is expecting her third child with new partner, tree surgeon Will, faced strong backlash from listeners who criticised her for spreading ‘dangerous advice.’

Listeners flooded the comment section of the podcast’s Instagram page with messages of disbelief.

Skincare professional Caroline Hirons even took to the comments to leave her opinion, writing, ‘Sunscreen doesn’t cause skin cancer. The sun does. Stop the madness FFS.’

A paediatrician, Dr Lillie Parker, chimed in, too, saying:

‘Even if you’re children have skin prone to tanning rather than burning they need UVA/B protection via sun cream to reduce skin cell damage. There are 2 types of suncream physical and chemical suncream which work slightly differently (do your research to what you would prefer). If you are reluctant to put suncream all over them then use UV suits and hats for sun protection but you should still be putting suncream on the exposed areas e.g face, arms and legs to minimise risk of skin cancer later in life. I appreciate there’s anxiety around suncream especially with the noise on social media but as a paediatrician this is what I would recommend.’

Another poster wrote, ‘Skin cancer is a real thing. You can find clean ones and still protect your kids with sun cream.’

While there were some listeners who were ‘Team Kelsey’, most were of the opinion that it is the sun that can cause cancer, not the sun cream.

It is important to note that skincare products available in Europe are required to go through rigorous testing to ensure their safety.