Comedian Katherine Ryan has give a nuanced reaction to Sam Faiers' recent controversial statement. The former TOWIE star sparked outrage on social media when she revealed she often doesn't use sun cream on her children.
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Katherine, who has been diagnosed with stage two melanoma twice, admitted she doesn't "hate" Sam's admission amid the controversy.
Sam has been criticised by a skin expert after she revealed she doesn't get her children to wear sun cream as they have "built up a good tolerance to being in the sun".
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Speaking on a recent installment of her podcast Katherine Ryan Telling Everybody Everything, Katherine revealed a lot of people had been asking for her opinion on Sam's divisive statement.
After pulling up Sam's infamous post, the pregnant comedian told listeners: "Guess what, guess what. I don’t hate this. She’s more tanned than I am, presumably her kids are not 100% Cork city genetics and it sounds like she knows what she’s doing. She’s like, ‘If I were to take my kids to Zimbabwe and they were out in direct sunlight for a long time I would take some precautions’. But, day to day, maybe you don’t… maybe you do!
"But maybe you don’t need to slather a small baby with commercial sunscreen that, you know, a lot of them – not all of them – but a lot of them do have chemicals. But, like, everything is a chemical, you know what I mean? Like everything is a chemical, I don’t know how to explain that to you."
Kathertine continued: "Chemical the word gets a bad wrap and I know what Sam Faiers means in this instance she means synthetic, harmful chemicals but like… Listen don’t be scared of all chemicals. I don’t know these kids. I don’t know Sam Faiers' kids but even with my skin that reacts instantly to sunlight – I’m like a vampire it feels like someone’s pouring salt on a slug if the sun is hot.
"There are times that I can go out and I feel the UV is low and I’m mindful and I get in the shade and I wear a hat and SPF swimwear. It sounds like she’s being really sensible and for people to jump on her and be like, ‘you don’t know what you’re saying babe' well I think just let her parent her kids the way she wants. If they were getting burned I believe that if they were in the school system – nursery presumably – if they're showing up to nursery with blisters and burns I think somebody’s gonna raise a red flag about that. I think that falls under the umbrella of child endangerment."
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Katherine's comments come after Sam received backlash for revealing she doesn't put sunscreen on her children. In an extensive social media post, she declared: "So this is always a bit of a controversial one, but honestly, me and my whole family don't actually wear sunscreen. Over the years, the kids have built up a really good tolerance to being in the sun."
She continued: "Of course if it's really hot and the sun feels too harsh I'll make sure we head into the shade... usually around lunchtime we'll go in, have something to eat and just avoid those peak hours."
The mum then added: "I'm really careful about sunscreen in general, because a lot of them are actually pretty harmful and full of toxic ingredients. If you do want to protect your kids, I think SPF swimwear is such a good and safer option.
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"But also, don't be afraid of the sun! Early in the morning or later in the afternoon when it's not as strong, I love letting the kids run around and soak it up, it's good for them. That said, I do always bring a Tallow Zinc SPF with me when I go away, just in case. And hats or caps are a must! Especially for us ladies because no one wants extra sun damage."
