Dec Pierce: 'I know how toxic social media can be'

Dec Pierce has had a tough couple of years. The Today FM presenter and creator of Block Rockin Beats – his dance music and live gigs show - had a brain haemorrhage in 2023 and last year was diagnosed with breast cancer.

On the latest episode of the Conversations with Parents podcast he tells host Jen Hogan about the shock of learning he had breast cancer while on holiday with his wife and young daughter.

Fatherhood is something Pierce always hoped to experience but he had thought it wasn’t going to happen for him. “Myself and Kate were trying for a while”, he explains. “I always wanted to be a dad. But I never thought I’d be blessed”. He discusses the surprise of finding out he was going to be a dad when he had given up hope.

Maintaining a presence on social media means Pierce is well aware of its risks. “I know how toxic social media can be”, he says and he worries about raising a daughter in the social media age. “I think we’ll handle that very carefully as she gets older. We’re so lucky the generation we grew up in where social media wasn’t a thing”.

Pierce was bullied in school and he’s conscious of his hypervigilance to this because of his own experience. “I’m very aware of that. I’m very aware that might not be the case for her. And I don’t want to put my worries, my stresses and my hang ups from those days on her shoulders”.

Conversations with Parents is presented by Jen Hogan.This episode was produced by Andrew McNair.The executive producer is Declan Conlon.

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