Allison Langdon’s just signed on for another year on the desk at Nine’s Today, where she’s helped boost ratings and become a favourite with viewers, but her kids Mack, four, and Scout, two, are not among her many fans.
“No way! My husband will try to turn on the Today show to see what’s happening in the world and they’ll blow up because they want Play School,” Allison laughs.
“They’re not interested in Mummy being on TV!”
It can’t be easy having to show up and be bubbly for brekkie TV each day, especially after a sleepless night.
Allison Langdon with husband Michael Willesee Jr. and their two kids.
(Instagram)But it’s all part of the job for the 42-year-old working mum, who is married to fellow journalist Michael Willesee Jr.
“We had Scout up the other night between midnight and 4am,” says the star.
“I’m pretty good without much sleep. [But] there are some mornings the alarm goes off and you’re like, ‘Urgh…'”
But Ally admits the evenings can be even trickier in the Langdon-Willesee household in the beachside suburb of Bronte in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.
“You’re trying to cook dinner, do baths, we’ve become pretty routine for that period in the early evening – if we’re not, it’s a disaster in our household,” reveals Allison, who admits sometimes juggling young kids and a demanding career has had her wanting to throw it all in.
“You have a moment where they’re ratbags and they’re screaming and it’s just like, ‘What are we doing?'” she says of her kids.
“And then two minutes later they do something absolutely adorable and you go, ‘Oh, that’s right.'”
When it comes to ratings, it’s neck and neck between Today and Seven’s Sunrise – and that’s just the way Ally likes it!
“It’s nice that it’s a tighter race these days. It keeps it interesting and keeps everyone on their toes and at their best,” she tells Woman’s Day.
She adds “The show – and trying to do the best one possible – is always on our minds.”
So too is parenting, of course, and Ally says she and co-host Karl Stefanovic, who is a dad of four, and the rest of the Today crew are always talking kids.
“It’s nice sometimes when you come in if you’ve had a rough day or night or your kids have been sick – everyone on the desk gets it,” she says.
“We’re always there with a reassuring pat on the back.”
Ally admits she has another secret weapon when it comes to wrangling her young family – parenting expert, father-of-six and her Parental Guidance co-host Justin Coulson.
“I call him and say, ‘So, Justin, I have this friend…'” she jokes.
“He’s very relatable and there’s no judgement in anything he says.”
There’s plenty of judgement flying around the room on Parental Guidance, Nine’s new MAFS-meets-parenting social experiment series.
“We all love our kids more than life itself,” Ally says.
(Instagram)“It’s dramatic, because parenting can be dramatic,” Allison admits.
“And when you put 10 sets of parents in a room with very different styles it does get heated.”
But despite the differences in parenting styles, Allison says they all had one thing in common.
“We all love our kids more than life itself,” she says.
“Everyone in the room was there to learn how to be a better parent.”
Allison’s own style is a mix of many. “I was raised free-range. My parents were like, ‘Off you go, down to the bush, you’ll be right!’
“My husband and I now, we’re a bit helicopter with little kids in the city.
“I’m learning the importance of consistency. I try to do that in my household, but sometimes the rules on Monday are different on Friday!”
Parental Guidance airs Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, 7.30pm, Nine and 9Now.
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