‘Scary’: Sam Wood’s fears for online safety of daughters

Social media helped Sam Wood build a multimillion dollar empire.

But the fitness guru and reality TV star knows for all of its plusses, there are minuses – indeed he has seen the “heartache” of the latter “first-hand”.

Wood, who met his now wife Snezana on reality show The Bachelor in 2015, holds fears for the online safety of his four girls: Eve, 17 (Snezana’s daughter from a previous relationship), Willow, 4, Charlie, 3, and baby Harper.

“Social media can be a double-edged sword. It can be your best friend or your worst enemy,” Wood said.

“It’s very hard to have the good without experiencing the bad. Something Snez and I always reassure ourselves with is if you don’t know them personally, don’t take it personally.”

Wood also knows the family of Mac Holdsworth, 17, who tragically took his life in 2023 after he was blackmailed by someone using fake social media accounts.

That’s why Wood isn’t hesitating to join other Australians in backing Unplug24, a campaign to boycott networking platforms for 24 hours on October 24, the first anniversary of Mac’s death.

The idea was the brainchild of Mac’s dad Wayne, who has set up a suicide prevention charity called SmackTalk in memory of his son, and to raise awareness on the damage that can be done on social media and save the lives of others.

Unplug24 has already seen a wave of support from household names including singer Jessica Mauboy, Home and Away star Ada Nicodemou and fitness instructor Michelle Bridges.

“Taking part in this is a personal connection with the Holdsworth family, as I am very close with Mac’s brother Joss and his father Wayne. So I have seen the heartache that this tragedy has caused first-hand,” Wood said.

“This has given me a powerful insight into how scary this can be and as someone with a teenage daughter and three younger girls who will eventually be at that age, it was a huge eye-opener and something I couldn’t imagine having to go through.

“Taking a day of social media will be refreshingly healthy and more time for real connections with friends and family. Hopefully it serves as an eye-opener that I don’t need this as much as I am on it.”

Originally published as Unplug24: Sam Wood’s fears for online safety of daughters