Tom Fletcher wants his children his have the “normal” childhood he never experienced.
The McFly singer – who recently performed alongside his eldest son Buzz, 11, at part of BBC Children In Need – insisted while attending the Sylvia Young Theatre School as a kid was an “amazing” time, he feels like some of the joy of childhood was kept from him.
He told the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column: “I grew up going to theatre school and singing and dancing professionally as a kid.
“I did have amazing experiences but I also feel like it takes a bit of the fun away from your childhood or just doing that because you enjoy doing it rather than it being like, ‘Today you are going here for this performance.’ “
The Five Colours In Her Hair hitmaker – who has Buzz, nine-year-old Buddy and Max, seven, with his wife Giovanna Fletcher – wants his children to make the most of being kids.
He added: “It’s a different kind of world now. We missed out on the social media thing as kids and as teenagers – we were really lucky in that respect.
“So I am trying to hold off on that for as long as possible with my kids.
“I want them out climbing trees and on bikes and stuff. They get more life lessons from that stuff.”
From an early age, Buzz used to love rewriting his famous dad’s songs as he took an active interest when he was just seven years old.
Back in 2021, he told the Metro newspaper: “Buzz, my eldest, likes to rewrite my songs. Often I’ll show him a first draft or first idea. You get a good instinct because kids don’t have a filter, which is brilliant yet terrifying.
“Even if he likes it, he still can’t help himself. Often it’ll be the next day and he’ll say, ‘I’ve been thinking about the song you showed me. I think it should go like this…’
“He’ll sing this whole new part. It’s very sweet but it makes me question whether what he’s written is actually better than what I’ve written.”