Stacey Solomon reveals fears for her children during heated GMB debate

Stacey Solomon tackled airbrushing and its impact on children during a clash of opinions on Good Morning Britain.

The Loose Woman – who has two young sons – appeared on Thursday’s show to express her concern at the “dangerous” use of heavy filtering to completely change someone’s appearance.

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Stacey, 28, felt it was risky for young children to see as it could give them unrealistic expectations of how they are supposed to look.

It was a subject particularly close to her heart given she’s a mum to sons Zachary, nine, and Leighton, five, who are at an impressionable age.

Stacey worries airbrushed photos are dangerous for kids to see [Credit: ITV]

However, she clashed with fellow panellist Lizzie Cundy, who said there was nothing wrong with altering one’s appearance digitally and it was no different to wearing a push-up bra or taking a photo in good lighting.

The debate was sparked by a new French law which orders advertisers to declare to the public when they have digitally edited an image.

Lizzie told her: “I’m sorry, but let’s be honest, we all want to look our best. Look at the lighting today – you always want the best lighting, the best angle. It’s just people wanting to look their best and technology has improved.

“My father was in film, he was a photographer, and it was all about the lighting and filters even back in the 1960s.

Lizzie, however, said changing your appearance in an app is no different to wearing a padded bra [Credit: ITV]

Stacey, however, said her point was people needed to be upfront when they dramatically altered their image in pictures.

“Yes, we all want to look good and might put a filter on but we should at least say, ‘Look, I’ve put a filter on, this isn’t what I look like in real life’,” said Stacey.

Lizzie argued “it’s the same as people wearing padded bras or Spanx to improve their body,” but GMB co-host Susanna Reid chipped in to disagree, saying anybody could buy a padded bra, but if someone digitally alters their nose or face in a photo that’s a different ball game.

Susanna added: “I wonder if we need to remind children and teenagers that you will not look like the girl in the magazine because the girl in the magazine doesn’t look like the girl in the magazine.”

The heated debate was sparked by a new French law that advertisers must declare when they’ve edited photos [Credit: ITV]

Talk then turned to Loose Women’s recent Body Stories campaign, with Stacey saying: “It was incredible, it empowered people and people want to see others embracing and being honest about their bodies.”

Lizzie agreed with that but also said: “On the other hand, eating disorders have been around a lot longer than these apps.”

Stacey argued the point is the apps have made the situation “dramatically worse”.

She also said kids need to be taught that social media is an “advertising platform” and the airbrushed, filtered images that dominate are not real.

Stacey said celebs have a responsibility to be honest [Credit: ITV]

Leading by example, she continued: “I never airbrush my photos or change my face in pictures. I’ve actually done posts where I show the difference between me wearing make-up and without make-out. I try to be as honest as I can.”

But Lizzie continued to argue that everybody tries to make themselves look good and it’s not just celebs who alter their images. She added that some non-celebrities do have surgery to change their appearance and no one should feel pressured to reveal that publicly.

She also said many apps are just for fun, using the Snapchat animal ears filter as an example.

“These apps will never make you perfect,” added Lizzie. “They are just enhancing what you’ve got and I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

Stacey recently shared this photo of her before and after make-up [Instagram @StaceySolomon]

Stacey said: “I think there are a lot of really young children who may be aware there are filters and stuff like that, but I think they do look at certain influential people and think they actually look like that, and then go, ‘Why don’t I look like that?’

“I think they’re really dangerous and I think they put a lot of pressure on young people.”

But Lizzie argued there’s always been pressure on young people, such as supermodels from the ’60s onwards wanting the best make-up and lighting.

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“Then maybe there is room for improvement,” replied Stacey. “If we’re influential, maybe we should say that pressure has always been there but it’s becoming worse these days.”

Lizzie ended the debate with a point everyone agreed on – that no matter what the external image was, it was very important to always feel good and confident on the inside, too.

Wise words.