David Gandy has publicly backed calls for social media to be banned for under 16s as he shared the harm that the ‘addictive’ platforms were having.
The model, 46, shares two daughters with his wife Stephanie Mendoros, and has backed several countries calling for sites such as Instagram and Snapchat to be blocked for teens.
David said that along with having an impact on teens’ mental health, he felt that social media being ‘unregulated’ was contributing to pressures on young people to alter their appearance.
Speaking on Pete Wicks‘ Man Made podcast, the fashion star also shared that he won’t allow his daughters Matilda, seven, and Tabitha, four, to model themselves until they are 18 years old, due to his concerns they’d be exposed to simular unregulated content.
It comes after MPs rejected a proposed ban on social media for under-16s despite calls to improve children’s safety online, with supporters of the ban saying parents are in ‘an impossible position’ over the harms their children are being exposed to.
David explained that much of his views around social media come after discovering research that showed a vast increase in mental health struggles in young women.
David Gandy has publicly backed calls for social media to be banned for under 16s as he shared the harm that the ‘addictive’ platforms were having
He explained that the increase began in 2013, when social media platforms Instagram and Facebook were on the rise.
‘If it was down to me, one I would have social media banned like Australia, Denmark and I think Spain are doing it,’ he said.
‘It’s a very hard thing to implement but I would have it done immediately to under 16-year-olds, because I don’t think parents and people actually realise the addictiveness of it, it’s the same addiction as smoking or drinking or drugs.
‘It is the same endorphins in your head, and I think I would educate parents as to how, I don’t think there are any parents that are saying it’s actually great, but I think there’s a lot of people addicted, including the parents, and so their kids are addicted to it as well.
‘So I think that would solve a lot of problems because you say that everything is unregulated, and you’ve got a lot of people who think they are right, churning out this c**p to very vulnerable young people.
‘I can put that into the fashion industry, people say “would you put your daughters in the modelling industry?” and I said they can go into modelling when they’re 21, or that’s probably a bit extreme, but 18.
‘Everything that parents are protecting our children from, you’re giving them this, access to it on a phone, but we’re so defensive of letting our children out.
‘One of the discussions as parents at schools “when you do you want to let your children out on the street on their own or go to play in a park?” and we’re not doing it because we’re scared, but we’re all on a phone. So, take away the phone and let them have more freedom.’
David went onto note the impact of social media on men who feel pressured to maintain a certain appearance after he and Pete discussed the dangers of toxic masculinity.
He said: ‘Where’s it come from? Social media. Get kids off social media, just get them off it’s very simple, for me it’s as simple as that.
‘A lot of people will probably tell me I’m wrong about that, I’ve heard the backlash when people go “oh it’s a hard thing to do,” but so is lots of different things.
‘Do you let your kids out to the pub to go and drink? Do you let them smoke? Good.
‘So take them off of it, get them off an addictive, something that’s addictive, or are you addicted as well, and you don’t want to come off of it?
‘But I think at the moment that’s what could be done, and I think you would see results from it, if I’m truthful.’
The model shares two daughters with his wife Stephanie Mendoros, also shared that he won’t allow his girls to entering the modelling industry until they turn 18
During the interview, David also shared that his two daughters, who he shares with his wife Stephanie, won’t start modelling until they’re 18.
Pete asked: ‘You’ve got two daughters. If they were to get into the modelling industry knowing what you know about the industry, is it something you would worry about?’
David replied: ‘By the time my kids could be into modelling at 18 I don’t think it’s the industry that’s going to exist. I think it would just be all AI generated.’
As Pete said: ‘Do you really think it’s going to go that way?’ the model said: ‘I do, unless it’s regulated. I really really do because it’s based on economics and marketing that’s what he’s done how can we save costs and AI save costs.’
In the end, MPs voted 307 to 173 against the change to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, brought forward by Conservative former minister Lord Nash, after Labour whipped its MPs to support an alternative proposal put forward by the Government.
A ban could still come in future after the Commons supported a Government bid to give additional powers to the Secretary of State.
Australia’s world-first law, which came into force on December 10, bars anyone under 16 from holding accounts on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, Facebook, Threads, Twitch and X.
Crucially, tech firms face fines of up to A$49.5 million (£26m) if they fail to block minors – making it the toughest age-based social media ban anywhere in the world.
The move has sent shockwaves through the tech industry and prompted other governments to follow suit. In Germany, ministers last month ordered a committee to examine whether similar curbs are feasible, with a report due in autumn 2026.
Meanwhile Malaysia has announced that from January 1, 2026, social media platforms will be required to block users under 16, backed by mandatory age-verification checks.
Gandy rose to new heights of fame when he starred in a Dolce & Gabbana advert wearing nothing but tight white pants in 2007.
He became a model after winning a competition on This Morning in 2001, entered by his flatmate at the time.
Pete Wicks’ Man Made is available now wherever you get your podcasts.
