Louise Thompson apologises for ‘shameful’ jab at parents who don’t potty train children

Louise Thompson said she’s ‘devastated’ as she issued an apology after sparking backlash with her comments about potty training children.

Speaking on last week’s episode of the podcast, she shares with her fiancé Ryan Libbey, the former Made in Chelsea star, 36, had discussed the statistic that one in four children are sent to school before they are potty-trained and said it ‘shocked her’.

Meanwhile, Ryan said ‘that’s a raw deal’ for teachers who have to deal with it.

The 35-year-old personal trainer said: “Alright, you've got a large number of kids in reception who've got nappies on and they can't feed or drink themselves."

While Louise guessed: “Maybe it's a bit of a cop out, they're like 'oh my child's crying, and they're being a bit difficult, I can't be bothered with the hassle, so I'm just going to take the easy route.

“I think people are so distracted these days with screens that they can't be bothered to dedicate the time.”

Louise Thompson has apologised after her viral potty training comments (YouTube/He Said, She Said)

She continued: “I think the responsibility relies fully on the parents. I really don't think the teachers, when doing their teacher training, that's something they should even have to think about."

A clip of the conversation quickly went viral online and sparked outrage among parents, some of whom accused the couple of not considering children with Special Educational Needs.

“Spoken from a place of extreme privilege and never known the struggles of real families or taken the time to understand. A little bit of digging into those stats wouldn’t have gone amiss,” one viewer wrote.

While a second brutally added: “You should be ASHAMED of yourselves. How dare you post what you did on your latest podcast. As a father of a SEND child, this makes me sick.

“Laughing at children attending school in nappies. You have a responsibility to use your following to spread kindness. Do better!”

The former reality TV star made the comments during an episode of her podcast (Instagram/louise.thompson)

Louise Thompson’s apology

Now, Louise has issued an apology following the angry response to her comments, admitting it’s been ‘such an important lesson and not one that she ‘takes lightly’.

Taking to Instagram, the star told her 1.5 million followers: “The first thing I want to say is that I am just so sorry that I have upset anybody and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

“It was never our intention to go out there and offend so many people let alone a community of parents and children that have so many challenges as it is and both Ryan and I are deeply devastated.”

She clarified that the statistics the couple spoke about during the podcast came from a Guardian article that was published back in January.

Louise said: “It was not referring to children that had Special Educational Needs or a disability but it doesn't matter because what this has taught us is that we should have considered those other groups of children, and this is an area that is so under-discovered.

Louise said herself and Ryan are both 'deeply devastated' (Instagram/louise.thompson)

“I have watched all the videos and read all for the comments I have nothing but tremendous admiration for the mothers out there having heard their stories.”

The mother-of-one, who welcomed her own son Leo, four, back in November 2021, added: “I would love mothers that are struggling on a daily basis to keep messaging me so I have a better understanding of what you are going through and perhaps we can have a more informed conversation on the podcast at some point in the future as I think it is so important to keep raising awareness for these kinds of topics.”

Louise also touched on her own struggles as she continued: “I obviously have an invisible disability myself so I am particularly sensitive to these sorts of topics.

“I think so much of the battle is finding the courage to speak up about them so that people that don't understand them do, so we feel like a less marginalised group in society. So hopefully this is the beginning of a wider conversation.”

She ended the video with “I promise this has been such an important lesson and not one that I take lightly. If anything it has given me lots of information to keep having these conversations across my platforms.

“I have to say it takes so much gut and gumption to advocate for your children, so you should be so proud of yourselves, and I totally understand where all of this energy is coming from as I have been that person too.

“Thanks for everyone who has DM'd me and those who have said we should meet up to have a further conversation.”