A mum has spoken out to agree with singer Jamelia’s parenting confession – revealing she also “interrogates” her daughter’s dates.
The hitmaker appeared on BBC Bitesize’s Parenting Teens this week, where she told host Kerry Godliman that she has an “interview or interrogation” with anyone who is seriously interested in her daughter.
Jamelia, who has four daughters – two of which are in their twenties, and two born in the last decade – said: “I’m telling you, some of them have not survived because of that.”
Describing it as “just a chat”, and with her daughter’s present, Jamelia said she asks questions like ‘Are you thinking about having sex?’ and ‘Have you spoken about contraception?’ to spark important conversations.
She added: “If you’re not mature enough, then you can’t have the conversation.
“I want my daughters to feel comfortable enough to have these conversations, and so I’m modelling it.”
While it isn’t perhaps typical parenting advice, it’s something she shares with fellow mum Carla Bellucci – who “vets” her 20-year-old daughter Tanisha’s potential dates.
Before they are allowed to take her out, the 41-year-old bombards them with intrusive questions to find out if they are “worthy” of her daughter.
“I agree with Jamelia – if any man is serious about Tanisha, they need to face me,” Carla, from Hertfordshire, told Need To Know.
“None of them want to – and that’s when I know they are only after one thing.”
As for why she insists on the “interview”?
Carla said: “I need to know what they are about and what their intentions are – I don’t want Tanisha with some simple-headed loser!”
And she doesn’t shy away from asking the more awkward questions, either.
Carla added: “I like to know how many sexual partners they have, how many girls they are sleeping with, have they been tested for STIs and can they provide clean evidence of that, and do they have any kids anywhere.
“These men are rats nowadays – if you want my daughters, come and face me!”
Carla also asks them how much they earn, what their parents do for a living, and if they are still together, as well as requesting their dating history and social media handles.
She added: “I drive Tanisha crazy.
“She says I need to chill, but you can’t because girls nowadays get it so wrong, and then that’s their life down the pan.
“I can’t afford to let that happen to her.
“I want her with a well-spoken man and someone who earns good money, so I know that later on, when she starts a family, she will be looked after.
“I just want her to have the very best in life and be able to travel and have lots of opportunities.”
When Carla questions the potential dates, she says they are often nervous.
She said: “They’re very intimidated by me.
“She has lost dates because of the way I am, but I don’t care – they’d have been a total loser with no balls.
If they can’t handle the heat, then step away, because I want the best for my daughter.
“I won’t stop until she meets the perfect gentleman.”
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