Steph Claire Smith has spoken out after being “mum-shamed” for wearing a bikini around her young son while playing in a swimming pool.
The 30-year-old is the co-founder of the cult Australian fitness app Kic. She also co-hosts the Kic Podcast alongside her business partner Laura Henshaw, has a hugely successful modelling career and works as an influencer with a following of 1.5 million people.
But Ms. Smith has found that since welcoming her son Harvey, 3, with husband Josh Miller, she has experienced a shift in attitudes towards her – one that became acutely apparent after the most recent clip she posted.
In the video, the mom – who is currently 16 weeks pregnant with her second child – can be seen jumping into her family pool to retrieve Harvey’s goggles which had fallen into the deep end.
While her son is off camera, he can be heard chatting away to his mum, an interaction Ms. Smith told news.com.au she wanted to capture.
TikTok users felt that the mom’s bikini was too revealing to be worn around children. TikTok / @steph_claire_smith In the video, the fitness influencer jumps in the pool to retrieve her young son’s goggles. TikTok / @steph_claire_smith
“My son’s vocabulary development is something that I am blown away by every single day,” she said.
“Our little back-and-forth chats are one of my favourite parts of my day. I had a feeling that when he asked me to get his goggles from the bottom of the pool, that it might’ve made for a cute conversation to capture… I know I’m not the only parent who films moments like this to watch back time and time again.”
But when she later shared the video on TikTok, some viewers weren’t happy with Ms Smith’s “cheeky” bikini, with some labelling the cossie “inappropriate” and suggesting the clip deliberately had sexual connotations.
“When I watched it back, sure, I noticed my bum was a little on show,” Ms Smith told news.com.au.
Pregnant mom shamed by internet for wearing a bikini in front of toddler
