Celebrity Dad of the Year award

 

Earlier this year I blogged about the Mum of the Year award and how farcical it was that Natasha Giggs had won.   It was and it still is.

Then today we hear announced that this year’s Dad of the Year is Gary Barlow.

Now.   I have nothing against Gary Barlow.   He is a perfectly pleasant chap who can write a nice tune.    He does an awful lot for a charity and is an “all round good egg”.

But DAD of the year?

Really?

Did you know he had kids?  I assumed he did.  But I have no idea how many.

And nor do most of the people who’s opinions I have canvassed this morning.

I thought he just looked after the other band members

was what @domsdad said on Twitter this morning.

Apparently Mr Barlow has three children and his wife is pregnant with number four.   Blimey.   How on earth does he find the time to go off and do all the charitable stuff that he does?

And that is my point.   This is not an “I hate Gary Barlow” post.  I don’t and  I am not saying he is a terrible father but do we know him as a father?   Have we ever seen him with his children?

I suppose maybe he doesnt want them to be in the spotlight, which is a fair point.

But I never see him talking about them.   Never see him Tweeting about them.

Surely Celebrity Dad needs to be known as a dad.

What about Jeff Brazier?  Bringing up his and Jade Goodie’s children as a single dad.  Working hard, doing a lot for charity as well.   The boys are not in the press but we hear about them.   We know that Jeff is a dad and that being a dad is THE most important thing in the world to him.

Or here’s one.   How about Prince Phillip?  I am serious!  What a great Celebrity Dad he would be.

• Supports his wife in her role.   Check
• Loyal.  Check
• Happy to live above his wife’s office.   Check
• Loved by his kids.   Check
• Loved by his grandchildren.   Check
• Loved by the nation.  Check

I am sure he has his detractors but we only had to see Prince Charles making his speech last weekend at the jubliee concert to see how adored Phillip is as a father.

In some respects Prince Phillip is the nation’s dad.

Apparently one of the other contenders was David Cameron.   Ahem.   So was leaving Nancy in a pub just a shrewd move to let us all know they don’t have a nanny?  To prove he is a dad just like any other?

I might have voted for him as Dad of the Year to be honest, he ticks all my “dad” boxes.    That is until he allowed the removal of Legal Aid for Domestic Violence cases.

But that is a whole other blog post.

So I am sorry Gary Barlow.   You are not Celebrity Dad of the Year.   You may well deserve Celebrity of the Year, you are an amazing man.    But you don’t deserve Dad of the year.