Dean McDermott is getting real about the tough conversations he’s had with son Liam.
McDermott chatted about his eldest son on Monday’s episode of his “Daddy Issues” podcast, where he looked back at nasty comments about 12-year-old Liam’s weight.
The actor, 55, and his wife Tori Spelling shared a sweet family photo to Instagram in March, featuring Liam, Stella, 11, Hattie, 7, Finn, 6, and Beau, 2, eating Little Bites snacks as part of a sponsorship. But Internet trolls quickly infiltrated the comments section.
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“So [Spelling] did this post about, you know, having a snack with the family, and all the moms got up in arms. ‘You feed your kids this? … No wonder they’re obese,’” McDermott said during the episode. “So, Liam saw this. He saw it on my phone, and he took me aside, and he said, ‘Dad, am I obese?’ And I said, ‘Dude, no. You are not obese.’”
He added, “I took him aside, and I said, ‘Look, you know what? People are going to say horrible things. We’re in the spotlight, Mom and Dad. People know who you are, and people are going to say nasty things. So you can fire back at them, or you can stop and think and send them some love.’”
And McDermott made sure to use the negative experience as a teaching moment.
“‘Think of how horrible their life must be if they’re gonna take the time to go on Mom’s account, look at it, and write something horrible about somebody they don’t know. How messed up is their life? How sad are they? They probably live in their mom’s basement. They probably have no friends,’” he said he told Liam. “So I said, ‘We can get mad about this, or we can take the high road, send them some love because they’re hurting.’ … Liam’s 12, going on 30. So, you know, he really got it.”
