David and Victoria Beckham must protect their son Cruz from the "treacherous" showbiz industry, according to former child star Donny Osmond.
The famous parents of the 11-year-old budding star were accused of being "pushy" last year after Cruz released a Christmas single entitled ‘If Every Day Was Christmas’, and 59-year-old Donny has said it’s important for David and Victoria to keep an eye on their son to make sure he doesn’t fall victim to the perils of the showbiz industry.
He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It all depends on the parents. I started at five and I think I handled it well. But I had a great family. It’s a treacherous world if you just throw your child out there and let him go about his own business without any restrictions.
"It messes with a kid’s head."
Despite being branded as pushy parents, retired soccer star David insisted Cruz – who signed with Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun to release his single in aid of charity – came up with the idea himself.
The 41-year-old star said previously: "The amazing thing about this, we only realised Cruz has a cute little voice about nine months ago. Scooter has been a family friend for a while, so he said to bring him in, see if he enjoys it.
"For us, we always want in our children, we always hope they’re listening to us or pay attention to us as parents, so we do a lot of work for charity for obviously Unicef and my wife does for the UN. And Cruz came to us and said ‘How about I do a Christmas song for charity? And all the proceeds go to charity.’ There’s nothing more to this than that at the moment.
"He’s 11-years-old, he’s still at school, he’s concentrating at school. That’s the most important thing. But he wanted to give back and he’s done this amazing little Christmas song that’s got a lot of attention. And you know we are very proud of it. He came to us with the idea. It’s kind of cool but he’s having fun."
David and 42-year-old Victoria – who also share Brookyln, 17, Romeo, 14, and Harper, five, together – might not have to worry about Cruz’s showbiz career just yet, as it was previously claimed his single was just a one-off.
A source said: "Everyone has gone totally mad over Cruz’s little Christmas record. But that’s all this ever was – just a kid who loves to sing doing something for his local radio station’s charity. Cruz is intent on staying at school and being a full-time pupil, not becoming a pop star.
"Everyone got swept away on a wave of pushy parents, record deals and albums, but the truth is it’s so much more simple. There is no album or touring with Justin Bieber, as has been suggested. It’s just a one-off Christmas song."
Donny Osmond: Cruz Beckham needs protecting from ‘treacherous’ showbiz industry
