Supernanny Jo Frost says she was labelled 'difficult' for not allowing Channel 4 show to 'cut corners or exploit families' and reveals producer halted filming and ordered crew to leave when she refused demands

Supernanny star Jo Frost has hit out at the exploitative nature of reality TV, as she emotionally revealed how she was labelled 'difficult' for refusing to bow to the demands of producers to create drama for ratings.

Recent weeks have brought renewed scrutiny into the biggest reality shows of the noughties, with the release of Netflix's docuseries exposing the many controversies of America's Next Top Model.

The Tyra Banks-led hit series premiered in 2003 to instant success, during an era where there were hundreds of reality shows busting onto the scene and pushing the boundaries in order to draw in higher audience numbers.

However, professional nanny Jo, 55, has insisted that she made sure that Supernanny never succumbed to the exploitative pressures that befell other reality programmes, because 'we needed to keep the integrity of the families that genuinely needed help'.

The show saw her going to help families where the parents were struggling with their children's behaviour, by showing them alternative methods of discipline and guidance to regain order in their households.

The Channel 4 series aired from 2004 to 2008, and was adapted for other countries, including an American version that also starred Jo.

Speaking on the We Need To Talk podcast, she explained how her priority throughout the show was to help the families that needed it and was unwilling to do anything that didn't serve that objective - even if it meant coming into 'friction' with producers.

In response to host Paul C. Brunson asking whether she felt pressure from the network to change the show to reflect the way in which reality television was getting louder and bolder, Jo said made sure she didn't 'because it had to be real'.

She said: 'I think I didn't feel the pressure because in my contract I had casting approval. That was a deal breaker for me if didn't have casting approval. 

'Because it has to be real. You have to genuinely go, "I need her help". Because when those families are vulnerable and they are trusting their lives in your hands, they're not just shaping their own family, but millions who are watching in the corners of Morocco, somewhere in Australia, in a little pocket village in Ireland.

'And it's not me that's the magic. It's that family because those families are watching that family on television. They're rooting for them. Sometimes in the beginning they might go, I don't know if I really like her, he sounds a little bit shady. But in the in the end, you see what I see in the beginning. 

'So casting approval was very important, because I needed to keep the integrity of the families that genuinely needed help and not a family that thought, "Oh, I'm going to be on television. And all I have to do is just act out and be performative."'

However, Jo admitted that her resolve came at a cost, because she was labelled as 'difficult' and came into conflict with the production team.

'I think there should be a duty of care officer on anything that involves transformation and change. There has to be,' she stressed.

'For me, I was the duty of care officer. I made sure that every individual and as a family as a whole that that boundary was there and yeah it would cause friction. That absolutely would cause friction.'

She recalled: 'You know I remember one time an executive producer put the camera down and told all his crew to get out. He said everybody get out, because I said no to something and was like that wouldn't be right for the family. 

'And so, he wanted to pull rank. He called all the crew out and they respectfully listened to the showrunner and they all left. 

'I carried on working. I'm like, "Hey, I just want to let you know that I'm going to carry on. So, like, you're not going to get any of this on camera if you decide to stay out and sulk. Just to let you know." And I carried on.'

Jo went on detail how much importance she placed on doing the right thing, saying she was insistent there was they were 'not cutting corners and were making sure that the families were not in any way exploited.'

However, she said that came at the expense of longer hours and higher costs, which caused her to be called 'troublesome'.

She said: 'It came at the cost of meaning that every day I would have to explain over and over again why the integrity of my decisions would benefit the family. 

'I knew the show would be successful in doing the right thing and not cutting corners and making sure that the families were not in any way exploited. There would be no, "Well, the crew break at 1, so we'll just keep rolling until 1." It'd be like, "No, the kids need to eat. It's 12:00. Last time they had breakfast, the mother told me, was at 8."

'So everything ran accordingly to make sure that family were never put out. But know that comes at a cost when time is money, and you're working, as you know, there's a 10-hour day or a 12 hour day and how much money it costs to build in a budget line for a show and the impact of that on a network...'

She went on: 'And that did come at a cost because I was seen as difficult. It was "Oh, she's being a pain in the a** today. She's being so difficult".'

While Jo explained her refusal to do things for the sake of making good television instead of in aid of the family also created friction.

She said: 'It would be like, "Oh the network think that it may be a great idea if you said this line?" But that has nothing to do with what's happening with the family though? Why would I say that? Why would I say that if it's not relevant to the family?

'Because at that moment, you realize the sensibility and the importance because everybody is hanging on to every word you say. That's a hell of a responsibility.'

She continued: 'I know I was labeled difficult because when I had the opportunity to explore other opportunities with other production companies, they would say, "Oh you’re nothing like what I've heard" and I would say "what do you mean by that?" and they’d say, "Oh, we heard that you're really difficult, you know, that you're troublesome and you're very difficult". 

'Because I have a vision, because I know what I need to do to help a family. Because I won't say what you want me to say, or you can't control me in a way that you wish that you could.'

While remaining steadfast in her principles, Jo confessed that she struggled being labelled as difficult, saying that as a woman that is particularly hard to come up against.

'I found it tough emotionally,' the author admitted. 'And as a strong woman that's not right.

'As a leader in this industry, I want to support women to feel empowered, to uplift other women in this industry and to support women who like myself are creative and do have a vision and do want to do good and what that looks like.

'And it means that you have to be in incredibly brave because you're not just going up against one person. You're probably going up against a panel, a board. And what does that mean to you? 

'You know, if I'd have been in a position where somebody said, "Actually, no, we can't do that." I'd have come home. I'd have still helped families. Just not on the level that I am. 

'I'd still be making a difference in one baby's life, in one single mother's life, in one father who'd been widowed, in one teenager's life. 

'Just not on this massive level that I have. And I'm grateful for that because I think that is the power of television in a really productive, positive way.'

Jo tied the knot with her husband Darrin Jackson in 2016, and while she's admitted that she liked the 'idea' of becoming a mother, in 2023 she said that the couple had 'never been in the space' to have children.

However, she told Paul that she had an 'innate profound intuitive responsibility' to care for kids, feeling as though all children were hers to protect as she explained why parenting has never mattered more.

She said: 'It's this innate profound intuitive responsibility, I really feel that,  to make sure that every child has the opportunity to be raised in an environment that will be safe and kind.

'Because at the end of the day they're going to become adults and they are going to shape the world.

'And we've only got to look at leaders in this world and the decisions that they make and question what kind of an upbringing did they have and who were their parents and how were they shaped.'

Admitting that she gets criticism from people who say it's not her business because she has no children of her own, she hit back, saying: 'I have millions'.

'That love, I don't know exactly where that comes from and I'm okay with not knowing either. I just know I have it,' she said. 

'I just know that I have that love and I get push back. You know, people say to me, "But you don't have children yourself". No, I have millions. That's how I feel. I feel I have millions. 

'Like, it's not I don't have children, so your children are your business. Every child is my business. I think every child should be your business. I think children of the world are our business. 

'As adults, we have a responsibility to take care of our children and to protect them and to equally give them opportunities in the world. And I think if we understood that, we'd have less trauma. We'd have a kinder world.'