Sam Faiers slammed for pushing ‘dangerous’ suncream conspiracy theory

Sam Faiers has faced backlash for admitting she doesn’t put sunscreen on her kids (Picture: Sam Faiers/ Instagram)

Sam Faiers has been slammed for an ‘irresponsible and dangerous’ admission.

The former The Only Way is Essex star, 34, shares three young children with her partner Paul Knightley.

Her family recently enjoyed a summer break in Mallorca, Spain, however Sam found herself under fire after engaging in a Q&A session with fans.

One of the questions the reality star and influencer was asked was: ‘What suntan lotion do you use as you have a good natural colour?’

However, Sam then admitted she and her partner – as well as their kids Paul, nine, Rosie, seven, and Edward, three – don’t use sunscreen.

‘So this is always a bit of a controversial one, but honestly, me and my whole family don’t actually wear sunscreen,’ she wrote.

The former Towie star has three kids with partner Paul Knightley (Picture: Karwai Tang/ WireImage) She said her kids – Paul, Rosie, and Edward – had ‘built up a good tolerance to the sun’ (Picture: Sam Faiers/ Instagram)

‘Over the years, the kids have built up a really good tolerance to being in the sun. Of course, if it’s really hot and the sun feels too harsh I’ll make sure we head into the shade.

‘Usually around lunchtime we’ll go in, have something to eat, and just avoid those peak hours.’

She continued: ‘I’m really careful about sunscreen in general, because a lot of them are actually pretty harmful and full of toxic ingredients.

‘If you do want to protect your kids, I think SPF swimwear is such a good and safer option. But also, don’t be afraid of the sun! Early in the morning or later in the afternoon when it’s not as strong, I love letting the kids run around and soak it up it’s so good for them.

‘That said, I do always bring a Tallow Zine SPF with me when I go away, just in case. And hats or caps are a must! Especially for us ladies, because no one wants extra sun damage (I’ve had my fair share over the years because I’m such a sun lover!).’

The reality star has been called out for the ‘irresponsible and dangerous’ admission (Picture:
Dave Benett/ Getty Images)

Since her admission, Sam has been called out for her comments about her approach, with many pointing out her lack of medical expertise on her latest Instagram post – a dump of photos from the family holiday.

‘You need to delete your story about not wearing sunscreen I don’t think you understand the damage you can do to your followers by promoting this,’ Nicole urged.

‘I must have missed it, when did you go to years of school and become a dr, making you qualified to give out medical advice to millions of people? Silly me, I thought you left school to work on the door at faces. All the time you were a student, and now you’re a Dr!’ Nina commented.

Sunscreen and sun safety

As explained by the NHS, sunburn increases your risk of skin cancer. Sunburn does not just happen on holiday. You can burn in the UK, even when it’s cloudy. 

There’s no safe or healthy way to get a tan. A tan does not protect your skin from the sun’s harmful effects.

Sun safety tips

Spend time in the shade when the sun is strongest. In the UK, this is between 11am and 3pm from March to October.

Make sure you:

spend time in the shade between 11am and 3pm never burn cover up with suitable clothing and sunglasses take extra care with children use at least factor 30 sunscreen What factor sunscreen (SPF) is advised?

Do not rely on sunscreen alone to protect yourself from the sun. Wear suitable clothing and spend time in the shade when the sun’s at its hottest.  

When buying sunscreen, the label should have:

at least 4-star UVA protection

a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 to protect against UVB

Why children need to be protected from the sun

Take extra care to protect babies and children. Their skin is much more sensitive than adult skin, and damage caused by repeated exposure to sunlight could lead to skin cancer developing in later life.

Children aged under 6 months should be kept out of direct strong sunlight.

‘Sunscreen is not toxic and full of harmful ingredients. There are cosmetic regulations that do not allow toxic products or harmful ingredients. And everything is a chemical…even tallow. This is irresponsible and dangerous, disappointing from someone with a large audience,’ Helen added.

Kelsey Parker was also recently called out after claiming her children ‘don’t burn’ and incorrectly claimed SPF ‘causes skin cancer’.

The 34-year-old actress shares two children with late Wanted singer Tom Parker, Aurelia, five, and Bodhi, four.

Kelsey Parker also recently said her family don’t use the sun protection (Picture: Mike Marsland/ WireImage) She claimed her two children – who she shares with the late The Wanted singer Tom Parker – ‘don’t burn’ (Picture: Kelsey Parker/ Instagram) I went for my first sunbed at 16 – I had no idea I’d get cancer from them

By Katie McVeigh

‘But I don’t even use sunbeds that often!’ I told the nurse. 

I’d just been diagnosed with Stage 3 Melanoma – an aggressive type of skin cancer – and told my love of tanning was to blame. 

It was a huge shock. I honestly had no idea they were dangerous. 

You see warnings on cigarette packets, and photos of people with lung cancer, but you never see a picture of a person with skin cancer in a tanning shop. 

I didn’t even think of myself as an excessive user. I might have gone two or three times a week before a holiday or night out. But then I wouldn’t go again for months. 

‘That’s still a form of sunbed abuse,’ the nurse told me. She likened it to binge drinking – avoiding booze all week and then getting drunk on a Saturday night.

I was only 16 when I went on a sunbed for the first time. I found out later that it’s actually illegal for tanning shops, beauty salons and other commercial premises in the UK to allow anyone under 18 to use a sunbed, but no one ever asked my age. 

But I was hooked. I started tanning regularly. I’m very pale, with a lot of moles, so I felt like it gave my skin a base colour. 

Then, in the summer of 2022 I noticed a black mole growing on my right cheek. 

I sent photos to my GP. They weren’t worried either but they referred me to a dermatologist just to be on the safe side.

In September 2022 I had the mole removed at a dermatology clinic and sent away to be biopsied.

Finally, the clinic called me and invited me to go in for my results. 

At first, they said it looked like Stage 2 Melanoma and referred me to the Ulster Hospital, in Belfast, to have a larger section of tissue on my face – where the mole had been – removed. 

I knew things were more serious than I’d first thought. 

I had the surgery in February 2023 and also woke up with a scar on my neck where an associated lymph node had been removed – to test to see if the cancer had spread. 

The results showed the melanoma had spread to my lymph nodes so it was upgraded to Stage 3 and I was referred to Belfast City Hospital’s Cancer Centre for MRI and CT scans to check it hadn’t spread anywhere else, which thankfully it hadn’t.

This month, I’ve come to the end of a year of targeted immunotherapy treatment, and I’m now cancer-free.

But it isn’t over – I’ll now have five years of monitoring scans every six months, to make sure the cancer doesn’t come back.

If I could travel back in time I’d tell my younger self that having a tan is just not worth it, and I would tell everyone else to look at everything you have – do you really want to play Russian roulette with your life?

But last month she admitted on her Mum’s The Word! podcast with Georgia Jones that her kids ‘do not wear sun cream’.

‘Sun cream is so bad,’ she said, adding that she ‘never’ wore it growing up.

‘The only thing that I may put on them is an organic sun cream. My kids, we went on holiday, I never put sun cream on them, and they do not burn,’ she added.

Meanwhile, last year Lauryn Goodman claimed skin was ‘so much better in the sun’.

Metro has contacted representatives for Sam Faiers for comment.

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