Mums have warned that their sons are 'obsessed' with social media influencer Andrew Tate.
The former Big Brother star has made headlines recently after being arrested in Romania as part of a human trafficking investigation. Police were able to detain him, along with his brother Tristan.
Andrew, a former kickboxer, is infamous on social media for sharing his misogynistic views online - yet appears to have built himself a cult following. He was previously banned from Twitter and other social media sites like Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok after a series of his provocative videos went viral prompting complaints from women's right's groups.
Read more: Who is Andrew Tate? The toxic influencer and ex-Big Brother star detained by police
Now, parents are speaking out about their own children, with some claiming they have been 'brainwashed' by the influencer. Texting in to Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2 on Wednesday (June 4), one mum, who only went by the name Sarah, said her son has turned into a 'chauvinist.'
She said: "My almost 20-year-old son is brainwashed by Andrew Tate. He has been brought up with lesbian parents and two sisters, so he's the only male in the house. The things that come out of his mouth are beyond belief. He has changed completely into a chauvinist which is very hard to see. "
Another mum, Nicola Pottinger, called in to talk about her 'clever' 13-year-old, who she says is 'very much into the online world.' When asked if the name Andrew Tate had ever come up, she responded: "It has, but because [my son] is so into his gaming and YouTubers, I just presumed that he was one of those people, I hadn't really paid attention to him."
That was until Nicola started to read about Andrew and his 'recent events' in the newspapers. She explained: "I started to put two and two together and realised that my son's been talking about Andrew Tate, who I've been reading about and the recent things that have been happening," referring to his Twitter spat with Greta Thunberg and his arrest.
Nicola continued: "I realised that, for whatever reason, my 13-year-old child is pretty much obsessed with him. I'm used to seeing this with YouTube stars... and gamers... I'm used to him watching YouTube and being quite well aware of the people who are 'in' at the time among his age group.
She went on to say that her 'clever lad' who is 'very gentle' and 'easy going' got cross with her, telling his mum: "No! That's not what he's been arrested for!" Her son went on to defend Andrew, searching TikTok and YouTube to back himself up.
He then claimed that the media 'didn't like' Andrew and were 'making up stories' about him, much to Nicola's surprise. She read him a story about his arrest from the article and her son 'wasn't having any of it.' Nicola added: "I think this morning actually woke me up to what my son is reading. He just thinks that it's safe... You don't realise the power of what they're reading on these unregulated sites and how much they're believing."
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