How answering a magazine ad led to Jo Frost's TV career as the Supernanny
Despite having no TV experience, no credentials and no children of her own, Jo Frost was soon known worldwide as the Supernanny after appearing in the hit TV show of the same name.
Now, 22 years after the show first aired, she continues to impart her wisdom via her social media channels, reaching a new generation of fans.
Joanne Frost was born in London on June 27, 1970. Her father was a builder and her mother was an interior decorator.
Frost told UK Parenting website Made for Mums in 2011 she always loved children and started working as a babysitter in her teens.
"I always loved babies, so it was natural for me to start babysitting when I was a teenager," she said.
After leaving school, Frost headed to drama college but continued babysitting before deciding to make it her career.
Frost worked as a nanny before becoming a TV star.
She did not get any formal qualifications before starting work as a nanny, both in the UK and the USA.
Then she answered an ad in a magazine.
"Fast-forward to 2003 and I'd covered all the different types of nannying, from troubleshooting for families to working abroad," she told Made for Mums.
That was when she saw an advertisement in a magazine for a nanny with more than five years' experience, "to give advice to chaotic households".
"My dad used to say our phone at home was a nanny hotline because I had so many people calling for advice, so I figured the job was something I'd be good at," she said.
She went along for an interview and used a camcorder to record herself working for two families, which became the pilot for a new TV show, Supernanny.
The show first aired on the UK's Channel 4 in 2004 and became an instant success, with the first season attracting six million viewers.
Each episode had the same formula: a family is struggling with child-rearing, whether behaviour, routine, meal time, toilet training or sleep.
Enter Frost, who observed their behaviour then instructed the parents on how to fix it.
The show aired on Australian TV on the Nine Network, where it was a huge hit.
Signature look
Frost's signature look for the show was a power suit, no-nonsense hairstyle and glasses.
She told Made for Mums while the glasses "aren't a gimmick", her outfit was.
"The glasses are mine, but the suit isn't," she said.
"The production company wanted me to wear a suit so that people could tell the difference between me and the family members.
"But I had to put my foot down and say that I wouldn't wear the suit for the whole time, because it's just not practical when you're down on the floor interacting with kids."
For the US version of the show, producers went a step further, insisting she wear a hat and arrive in a London taxi.
The naughty chair
Among Frost's tools was her famed "naughty chair" or "naughty step".
A form of behavioural modification known as a "time-out", it involves temporarily separating a misbehaving child from an environment before allowing them to return after a specific period of time, during which their behaviour has improved.
Frost told Made for Mums she had used the method for years, without the name.
"It was simply a part of everything I did when I worked as a nanny," she said.
"But back then I didn't have the name – it was just the place you went when you were naughty."
She said it soon became a staple of the show, which ran for five seasons before ending in 2008.
It was followed by a new show, Jo Frost: Extreme Parental Guidance, which ran from 2010 to 2012.
US version
It didn't take long for US TV producers to come calling, and Frost was asked to front its version of Supernanny, which premiered in 2005 and ran for eight seasons.
For several years, Frost jetted back and forth between the UK and US to film both versions of the show concurrently.
Both the show and Frost were a hit in the US, and she became a star, appearing on talk shows including Late Show with David Letterman, The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
She even hosted her own talk show on the UK's ITV channel called Family Matters, which first aired in 2014, and she also appeared in Family S.O.S. with Jo Frost and Jo Frost on Britain's Killer Kids.
In 2020, a new US cable TV version of the Supernanny was filmed in the US and was also shown in the UK and on the Nine Network in Australia, where it can still be viewed on 9Now.
Personal life
At the time of her Made for Mums interview in 2011, Frost said she was "not in a relationship at the moment" and was "not feeling broody just yet", but hoped to have children one day, and would consider adoption.
Frost met her husband, Darrin Jackson, while filming the US version of Supernanny, where he worked as a production manager.
They wed in 2014 and divide their time between the US and UK.
In 2023, she told OK!: "The idea of kids seems nice but we've never been in the space where we've said, 'Let's have children'."
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Causes
Frost has supported a number of child-related causes, including National Adoption Day.
She also raised awareness of life-threatening allergies and anaphylaxis, and was an ambassador for FARE (Food, Allergy, Research and Education).
She was an advocate for the United Nations Foundation's Shot@Life program to decrease vaccine-preventable childhood diseases and deaths and has promoted childhood vaccination.
Frost with one of the books she penned.
New generation of fans
Frost has written numerous books about raising children.
She describes herself as a Global Parenting Expert, and continues to work in the field, even offering private consultations.
She has a website and newsletter, where she shares tips and techniques, and has won a new generation of fans on her social media accounts, including Instagram and TikTok.
Just this week, Frost attracted media attention for a post directed at single parents hoping to meet a new partner.
https://www.tiktok.com/@jofrost/video/7618064974811893012?lang=en-GB"When you choose a partner it's not just about your connection or chemistry, or shared values," she said. "It's about who you are inviting into the foundation of your family.
"You are already holding the responsibility of raising your child or children. That role is not secondary. It is not negotiable. It is the core of your life.
"Now, it doesn't mean you don't have a life, but your children are core and centre.
"So the real question becomes this; does the person you are choosing truly understand that? Because if they don't, what follows is often a really subtle but damaging shift."
Frost said choosing the wrong partner could be disastrous for your children.
"Your partner wants you, and suddenly you are placed in a position where you feel torn between nurturing your child and maintaining your relationship," she said.
"That should never be the choice."
Frost said she hoped the message "lands with the intention I'm sending", adding "it needs to be heard".
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