Ant Middleton has revealed he forced his daughter into a freezing open air swimming pool in order to teach her about mental resilience.
The SAS: Who Dares Wins star, 39, was on holiday with his five kids when he decided to dunk his daughter Priseis, three, into the ice-cold water.
Speaking on Rachel Botsman’s Trust Issues podcast, the daredevil admitted other parents were horrified by his actions but he felt it was the right thing to do.
Tough: Ant Middleton, 39, has revealed he forced his daughter into a freezing open air swimming pool in order to teach her about mental resilience
He said: ‘I was on holiday and the swimming pool was absolutely freezing. My 10-year-old son and three-year-old daughter ran past and I grabbed hold of their legs.
‘They knew the pool was really, really cold and my three-year-old daughter started crying.
‘She didn’t want to go in. So I grabbed her, put her in the water and held her there.’
While the other parents were left in shock, Ant insisted his daughter ended up loving the pool.
Family: Ant was on holiday with his five kids when he decided to dunk his daughter Priseis, three, (bottom right) into the ice-cold water
He recalled: ‘You should have seen some of the parents’ faces. As soon as they saw my daughter crying, they were like, “Surely he is going to let her go?”
‘But I grab her and put her in the water. She kicks off and goes mad and then all of a sudden she calms down and jumps on her brother’s back. I then slipped off out the pool and they were playing in there for hours.’
Ant reckons his style of parenting will prevent his children from being ‘terrified’ of the world, saying other parents are not teaching their children to be resilient.
He said: ‘That’s just a prime example of how people are now not teaching mental resilience or any type of resilience to their children.
Parenting: Ant reckons his style of parenting will prevent his children from being ‘terrified’ of the world, saying other parents are not teaching their children to be resilient
‘It’s always safe [with other parents] and every move [the kids] do, they’re terrified.’
Along with Prisies, Ant is also father to Oakley, 17, Shyla, 11, Gabriel, 10, and Bligh, two.
It comes after Ant recently sparked outrage after announcing that he’s refusing to accept COVID-19 as a threat, amid the growing pandemic.
The former solider took to Instagram earlier this week to announce that he was continuing on with life as usual, despite Britain’s lockdown, and ended his video recording with the terse statement: ‘F**k COVID-19!’
Speaking into his camera, the TV personality said: ‘Am I still out travelling the world? Yes. Am I still shaking hands? Yes. Am I still cuddling fans at the airport? Yes. Am I washing my hands and keeping my hygiene to a high standard as always? Yes.
Speaking out: It comes after Ant recently sparked outrage after announcing that he’s refusing to accept COVID-19 as a threat, amid the growing pandemic
‘Has my life changed? No. Am I going to let some disease, COVID-19, dictate my life? Absolutely not. Get out there, don’t change, F**k COVID-19!’
Captioning his clip, Ant said that fans should thank him if they end up contracting the virus from him, because it will ultimately make them stronger.
He said: ‘I do love my fans who come up to me and want a cuddle or a handshake but feel really awkward, so I simply pull them in anyway.
‘Don’t worry if I give it to you, your immune system will be stronger after then you can come back and thank me with a kiss! Stay clean and keep doing your thing!
‘P.s I haven’t got covid-19 but probably have had it like the majority of you but Ssshhh! #f**kcovid19 #runandhide.’
Opinion: The former solider took to Instagram earlier this week to announce that he was continuing on with life as usual, despite Britain’s lockdown
In an apparent attempt to clarify his stance, Ant shared another video on Thursday, in which he insisted that he doesn’t ‘need’ the advice of experts.
He said: ‘COVID-19 doesn’t affect me, so I don’t need to take on board the expert advice. But what I need to do is be sensitive towards it, which I am being.
‘But COVID-19 doesn’t affect me. So the experts, thank you for advice, but it’s not needed for me.’
Adding a lengthy caption to the post, he wrote: ‘Calm the f**k down people! Covid-19 doesn’t bother me. Why?!? Because I’m strong and able like the majority of us and it has no benefit or positive impact on my life.
‘If you are vunerable to covid-19 then the “expert advice” is yours to take onboard, listen to it! Because it doesn’t effect me, it is merely “advice”!
Video: In an apparent attempt to clarify his stance, Ant shared another video on Thursday, in which he insisted that he doesn’t ‘need’ the advice of experts (pictured in January 2020)
‘That however doesn’t mean I am not sensitive towards the situation and towards others but I’m treating this situation like I would ANY given situation, with “COMMON SENSE”. Does covid-19 effect me?.. “NO”! Should my life change?…”NO’! Should I be sensitive towards others and the situation (like I always am)?.. ‘YES”!
‘Am I going to do my best to protect and provide for my family first?.. “YES ALWAYS” and in order to do that we must all stay calm and take on advice that’s relevant to our personal situation, and for the majority of us there is no threat.
‘Even if you do contract the virus, some of you won’t even know about it or some of you will have a s**t couple of days at work wondering if you have it or not!
‘What about the vunerable I hear you say…’Self isolate’ like the experts tell you, protect yourselves, let the strong and able (like the majority of us) look after you, let us do our bit for the community and the economy whilst trying to prevent our own personal lives and families from stooping into unnecessary depression and finiacial difficultly, let us re-establish a bit of normality and contain this fear.
‘If the media went into self isolation for a month I guarantee that normality would resume. Please just go about your lives being humane, sensible and continuing to challenge any difficult situation that presents itself head on, like we always have!
‘Stay calm, stay positive, and use common sense. If there’s ever a time to step up and show up… It’s now! #f**kcovid19 #calmdown #resumenormality #nochangenochange.’ [sic]
The coronavirus has killed 233 people and infected 5,018 in Britain so far, with both tolls rising rapidly every day.
He said: ‘If you are vunerable to covid-19 then the “expert advice” is yours to take onboard, listen to it! Because it doesn’t effect me, it is merely “advice”! (pictured in September 2019)