TV couple Chris and Rosie Ramsey: We don’t always agree on parenting style

Celebrity couple Chris and Rosie Ramsey are the first to admit they are oversharers, talking on their Sh**ged. Married. Annoyed. podcast about their relationship, arguments, annoyances and parenting.

But the biggest disagreement they have is about parenting their two boys, Robin, 10 and four-year-old Rafe, they reveal.

Sitting in the kitchen of their home in South Shields, comedian Chris admits: “I’m a bit more strict and I think I sometimes want too much of them. I’ll say, ‘Get ready! Why aren’t you ready immediately?’”

Rosie, presenter and social media star, chips in: “I always say, they’re not little robots. And Robin, who you get frustrated with, is exactly like you.”

The couple, whose eponymous BBC TV chat show was axed last year, still have a busy time juggling work and family life, what with their popular podcast which began in 2019, plus TV appearances, but have found time to squeeze in their second colourful, lighthearted children’s picture book, There’s A Poonami At Christmas.

“Couples argue, which is totally normal,” Rosie muses, “but we learned a long time ago that you have to compromise.”

“And we make each other laugh,” Chris continues. “Sometimes we’ll be arguing and we can just make each other laugh and it all disappears. I don’t want to be too soppy, but we’ve been really lucky to have just found someone that fits.”

They may not agree on everything, but the good-natured banter, gentle put-downs and funny asides barely disguise the underlying love they clearly share for each other as they navigate family life – and remain in agreement over important parenting decisions like phones and social media.

They carefully mask the faces of their two boys when posting family shots on Instagram.

“That was predominantly me,” Rosie, 39, confesses. “I watched a few documentaries online and listened to a lot of podcasts. There’s a lot of children who are now older who were on social media a lot when they were younger and they really wish they hadn’t been and they didn’t enjoy it.

“Our oldest, Robin, is desperate to be online – he wants to be a YouTuber – but I want him to be able to be older and make mistakes and not have to worry about the public judging him.”

“When I started doing stand-up I was an adult and I started doing social media, but children can’t make that decision,” Chris, 39, continues. “They’re like, ‘I want to be famous’ but you have to make that decision when you’re older.”

The couple’s careers have escalated in tandem – Chris with his comedy, Rosie with her presenting. Both have appeared in Strictly Come Dancing, Celebrity Bake Off and Taskmaster, as well as a raft of panel shows.

As Christmas beckons, there definitely won’t be a mobile phone under the tree for Robin any time soon. They don’t intend to let him have a phone until he’s at least 14.

“We’re really strict on it,” Rosie says flatly. “He can get a flip phone where he can call us or text us but no phones (with online capabilities) until he’s older.

“With all this technology and unmonitored stuff where everything good and bad can be at their fingertips, we’ve got locks on the wifi in the house, all the kids’ devices are in a separate room.”

Chris cites his own phone habits as proof of the pudding.

“I pick mine up all the time. I’ll close Instagram, put my phone down and literally turn and pick it back up again before I’ve even realised.

“The one thing I dread about being on tour and the long journeys is I just scroll, scroll, scroll.”

The ping of timers going off in their household to limit screen time is a part of family life, they agree, and recognise that the real difficulty will be when Robin goes to secondary school.

“But you know what? When I went to secondary school all of my friends got their belly buttons pierced, but my mum wouldn’t let me get mine done,” Rosie remembers.

The couple, who grew up 10 minutes from each other and went to the same college, began dating in their 20s and have been happily married for 11 years. They still have date nights and manage the odd night away together when they’re working in London and the grandparents can have the kids.

“It is important to have time as a couple especially when you do so much life admin. We’ve got the podcast together, the parenting, we run the house together, we run our lives together,” he says.

Their podcast is now on YouTube which means they’ve converted a spare room at home to create a recording space – and they have to dress up for the show.

“We used to look dreadful, in the same T-shirt, not showered,” Chris recalls. “I was normally in my pyjamas,” Rosie remembers.

“Now doing the TV shows, all the lighting has to be right and the stress of turning them cameras on and making sure they’re in focus is ridiculous. I’m the tech and the presenter,” Chris says.

He embarks on a new stand-up tour in the New Year. How will that fit in with family life?

“I’m very lucky that I’ve been able to curate it. We’ve factored in the family time, the podcast, so every Monday and Tuesday I’m off and most nights I’ll get to come back.

“It’ll be a bit tough being away but it’s stand up, it’s what I do,” he says simply. “You’re very good at it,” Rosie continues. “That’s where you shine, on tour. And you haven’t done one for a while, and both kids are at school.”

For now, Christmas preparations are in full swing at the Ramsey household. Rosie, who has already virtually finished the Christmas shopping, orders a lot of stuff online and Chris stays home to take it in, he quips.

“Having kids brings the magic back,” Chris enthuses. “I just sit welling up on Christmas morning watching them. They’re so excited at this idea that these presents have just magically appeared.”

They think that Robin still believes in Father Christmas.

“When the older one doesn’t believe any more, Jason Manford told us once that they then become Santa for the younger ones. They put the teeth marks on the carrot and other stuff.”

“I just organise everything. Chris takes the boys out at weekends, he does all the swimming trips, they want to have fun with their dad. We’ve got our roles and it works,” says Rosie.

There’s A Poonami At Christmas by Chris and Rosie Ramsey is published by Gallery Kids, priced £12.99. Available now