BBC Radio 1 presenter Jamie Laing has admitted he regrets “speaking badly” about his father Nicholas in a newspaper article that saw them not “talk for ages” in his twenties.
The 36-year-old former Made in Chelsea star said he blamed his dad for separating from his mother Penny Baines when he was young and vocalised those feelings in the press.
Nicholas sent Laing a copy of the article in the post, writing “I’m so sorry I’m such a disappointment” across the interview clipping about him.
“I just thought, ‘man, that’s my Dad,’” the presenter told Ferne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast, adding his father had been “really hurt” by his remarks about him.
When Cotton asked Laing whether he thought the purpose of Nicholas’s letter was to reconcile and apologise or call him out for the public criticism, he opted for the former.
“I think it was him saying, ‘You don’t know both sides. You don’t know the true story so if you just say things, it’s really hurtful. I’m sorry that you have that. I represent all these things that you said.’”
Laing acknowledged his father has never said anything negative about his mother. However, Baines stressed over being a single parent. “Which is totally fair, because she was hurting,” Laing said.
Despite the presenter and his father going through a period of no contact following the incident, Laing made clear he is now “really close” with his dad, who has since offered him advice on fatherhood.
Laing is expecting his first child with his wife and former Made in Chelsea co-star Sophie Habboo. He admitted that he was “really nervous and scared” about becoming a parent before talking to Nicholas.
“Parenthood in general is just a really scary thing and for so long, I didn’t know if I wanted to become a parent,” he said.
The presenter admitted he “liked waking up in the morning and just thinking about going to the gym or walking to work” rather than any additional responsibilities, such as a child.
“That’s gone. Totally gone. Like that in one second,” he said of his current state of mind.
“I thought when I get to 90 years old hopefully and I’m in my rocking chair or an ice bath and Sophie’s there… you don’t want to look back at life and think I wish I’d done that.”
Laing and Habboo became a couple on Made in Chelsea in 2019. They married in front of friends and family in Spain in 2023, and announced that they were expecting their first child in June this year.
