Jake Quickenden has defended his decision to set-up an Instagram account for his three-month-old son Leo, as he declared he has 30k followers and could grow up to be an ‘athlete or model’.
The former X-Factor star, 32, who shares his first child with girlfriend Sophie Church, 28, said giving Leo his own social media page is an ‘amazing gift’ and hopes it will aid his future career.
Speaking on Vicky Pattinson’s The Secret To podcast on Thursday, he said: ‘We made him an Instagram. He has got nearly 30,000 followers now.
Father: Jake Quickenden has defended his decision to set-up an Instagram for his three-month-old son Leo, as he declared he has 30k followers and could be an ‘athlete or model’
‘People are like, “Does he really need an Instagram.” I am like, “What an amazing gift to give him.”
‘We’ve got him a bit of a platform. He will have a few followers which is lovely.’
The singer continued: ‘With all these memories of growing up, from a baby to one, two, three, four, five…He will see me and Soph’ getting married.
‘I wish I could look at picture after picture of me growing up. I have got like 10. I just thought it was such a nice thing.’
High hopes: The former X-Factor star, 32, who shares his first child with girlfriend Sophie Church, 28, said giving Leo his own social media page is an ‘amazing gift’ and hopes it will aid his future career
Jake added that they created the Instagram page for their baby because ‘he is going to be an athlete or a model or something’.
He continued: ‘If he wants to be anything. If he wants to do ballet, dance, acting… I can’t wait to support him in anything he wants to do.’
Jake has endured a challenging time on social media following Leo’s birth in February, after vicious trolls claimed the newborn ‘needs Botox’ and that he’s ‘weird looking’.
Proud: Speaking on Vicky Pattinson’s The Secret To podcast on Thursday, he said: ‘We made him an Instagram. He has got nearly 30,000 followers now’
Presence: He added: ‘People are like, “Does he really need an Instagram.” I am like, “What an amazing gift to give him.” We’ve got him a bit of a platform. He will have a few followers which is lovely’
But the TV personality has now decided to simply ignore the horrible comments but admits it will be hard to reject his parental instinct to protect his son.
Speaking to The Sun earlier this month, Jake said: ‘Obviously the emotions I felt when he was trolled was anger and like surprise.
‘I understand if someone doesn’t like me, I can be a bit annoying so I get that. But to troll a baby to try and get a reaction out of me, is a little bit low.
‘But you have to think, these people might need the random act of kindness. These people are probably the ones that need it.’
Upset: Jake has endured a challenging time on social media following Leo’s birth in February, after vicious trolls claimed the newborn ‘needs Botox’ and that he’s ‘weird looking’ (pictured with girlfriend Sophie)
The father-of-one said he is instead trying to focus on the positives. But Jake has not always managed to keep his cool, taking to Instagram to name and shame some of the accounts that made horrible comments about his son.
Hitting back at trolls earlier this year, the proud dad penned: ‘REAL POST… So in the past week this little man has been told he needs Botox, that he’s ugly as f**k and that he’s weird looking.
‘Me myself have also been told stay off social media if you don’t want to be trolled, it’s so baffling to me that I should have to stay off social media if I don’t want my 4 week old trolled.
‘I don’t mind people giving me s**t, as sad as it is I’ve had to get used to being called “irrelevant, ugly, attention seeking” and the list goes on but to troll a innocent child is so wrong and the people doing it seriously need to seek help.’
Jake continued: ‘Also why should I stay off social media if I don’t want him trolled the thought process of some people is shocking, maybe people just shouldn’t troll.
‘I enjoy social media it’s full of lovely people who are supportive and I like sharing my ups and downs, I try and be real as possible, but unfortunately there is a dark side of social media and something needs doing about it.
‘Anyway rant over!! The lion is 4 weeks today! Cute af. Love you son @leooliverq.’ (sic)
But speaking earlier this month, Jake admitted that he deleted the screenshots shortly after posting them because he feared it may lead to the person being trolled too.
Response: Jake said he is instead trying to focus on the positives, but has not always managed to keep his cool, taking to Instagram to name and shame some of the accounts that have made horrible comments