I was grabbed by the throat and pinned against the wall in one of my scariest moments on TV, reveals Supernanny Jo Frost
IF you grew up watching Supernanny, you know it’s not a good idea to mess about with her.
But Jo Frost has revealed that she was once attacked by a parent while filming the iconic Channel 4 show.
Speaking on the Parenting Tools Podcast, Jo explained to hosts Jason Heron and Jordan Piano that she had been attacked while filming an episode filmed in Florida in 2007 for the US version of the show.
17 years on and now aged 54, Jo recalled the events of meeting the Nitti family in West Melbourne, Florida, where she met Lisa, 28, her four sons, Darren, 10, Matthew, eight, Devin, six and Jared, five, as well as her boyfriend of two years, John, 44.
Her four boys were constantly up to mischief and getting in trouble for their unruly behaviour – leading the mum and John to dub it ‘the crazy house.’
The episode, which was the eighth in the third season, proved difficult for Jo, and not because of the rowdy children.
But by the ‘intimidation and aggression’ from their stepfather, John.
“I helped a family called the Nitti family in Florida and there was a gentleman, a man, who was living with his girlfriend at the time and they had four children,” she recalled.
“During my observation, the man was very aggressive. He was a complex man for sure. But he was very intimidating and had the care of these four young boys.
“He was in this blended family, right? His girlfriend had four children and he came into the relationship with four boys.
“And you could see with the boys that a lot of the behaviour was mimic behaviour from the intimidation and the aggressiveness from John.
“I observed, I gave my comments on what I observed with the family. The children and their behaviour.
“During teaching, he didn’t like what I said and he grabbed me by the throat and he pushed me up against the wall.
“That was a crazy moment because I’ve had families be very defensive or be hotheaded, tell me “I don’t like what you’re saying” or “that’s not true” or “that’s not okay”.
“But he didn’t like what I had to say which was the truth of a situation of him being very intimidated and he tried to intimidate me by pushing me up against the wall and he has his hands round my throat.”
Despite being terrified, Jo refused help from the camera crew as she wanted to deal with the situation alone.
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She continued: “One of the camera men went to drop the camera and I just kind of put my arm out as if to signal I didn’t want them to diffuse the situation with the father.
“I knew that those boys were being subjected to that aggression and intimidation as well.
“I would say that was pretty crazy for me at that moment. I was used to parents not agreeing, but not the physicality from the parents.”
Jo also claimed that much of what happens doesn’t make it onto the show.
“A lot of things happen and I don’t share. I choose not to or I choose to do so if the moment comes up like it has here,” she explained.
“You hope that helping the family, and in that moment it’s being filmed and I’m very particular about it being, it is what it is.
“It’s real, it’s not scripted. If there’s a technical fault and the cameraman didn’t get what I said? Oh well. Didn’t get what I said.
“I’m in the moment and once I arrive, a process happens and I don’t stop. I’m there and we have a journey together. A transformative experience together to hopefully bring a family to a different space.”