ITV This Morning: 'Spread by fear' Holly Willoughby WORRIED for kids amid Momo Challenge

This Morning discussed the Momo Challenge earlier today as the craze as dominated headlines over the past week.

The social media pop up has been said to attack children by sending them a scary image embedded into videos. 

The woman with a distorted face is then thought to tell the target to send a message to a WhatsApp number in which they get a challenge to complete. 

It is caused moral panic as some reports state children have been asked to harm themselves because the character, Momo, has told them to.

And earlier today, Holly Willoughby wondered how she could possibly bring up the dangers of this type of prank to her children. 

The presenter has three children, Harry, Belle and Chester, but it was her eldest she was particularly concerned about.

She told the panel: “Harry watches things on YouTube.

“I’ve been aware of this because I’ve seen it in the press but I didn’t quite understand how it works and the fact it just pops up on these things so it’s there all the time.”

Holly continued: “Do I draw attention to it? Do I mention it?

“I don’t know… I’m a mum and I don’t know what to do.”

The best advice given was to just mention there are “scary images” in the world and if they see something telling them to do something they should just ignore it. 

But Holly added: “The worrying thing is with something like Momo – it’s spread by fear.”

The presenter added: “If I went home and told Harry about Momo is he going to go to school and ask if anyone’s seen Momo?”

Phillip Schofield chipped in: “Should Holly show Harry a picture of Momo?”

She continued: “Is that not going to make him Google it?”

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of evidence emerging today suggesting Momo isn’t actually real. 

The Samaritans and the NSPCC have “dismissed” any claims to The Guardian, saying there is actually no harm caused by it at all. 

They added how the public hysteria could have actually put vulnerable people at risk. 

A spokesperson for Samaritans told the publication: “Currently we’re not aware of any verified evidence in this country or beyond linking Momo to suicide. What’s more important is parents and people who work with children concentrate on broad online safety guidelines.”

This Morning airs weekdays on ITV from 10.30am. 

source: express.co.uk