Tess Daly's controversial parenting decision and strict rules for children | Celebrity News

Strictly Come Dancing’s Tess Daly has given a rare insight into raising her two daughters.

Along with her TV star husband Vernon Kay, the couple share Phoebe Elizabeth, 20, and Amber, 15, and introduced strict rules to keep the youngsters safe online.

In addition to educating their children about the internet, Tess revealed that she also monitored phone usage in her home.

The 55-year-old revealed that none of her children were allowed to have phones until they were teenagers and that she does not allow phones at the dinner table under any circumstances.

“I think kids are a lot more pragmatic about social media than we ever were – it’s kind of second nature. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need guidelines.

Tess continued, “We’ve always been advocating, ‘You will never communicate with someone you haven’t physically met, or who isn’t a friend of yours.’

“As a parent, what matters is that your child is safe – and that is my number one priority for my children.”

She further revealed that her daughters were not allowed to take their phones into their bedrooms until they turned 15.

Even then they had deadlines for putting them away. For her youngest, Amber, that means 10 p.m. on a school night.

Speak with Hello! Magazine, Tess said: “We’ve always limited screen time, but it becomes increasingly challenging when your child socializes a lot online.

“My daughter wasn’t allowed to use Snapchat until she was 13. If she didn’t have it, she literally wouldn’t be able to communicate with her peers – because that’s how they manage their social plans.”

The star added: “Phoebe, our eldest, was private Instagram until she was 17 or 18.

“We believe that children should be young adults before they become public on social media, because before that they are still children.”