‘Being a dad is so hard – I am too impatient’, says Jordan Banjo

Diversity star Jordan Banjo is now a dad of three, after his wife Naomi welcomed their third child, son Atreus, into the world in April.

Whilst Jordan, 30, loves being a dad, he's admitted that it isn't all rosy in the garden, as he said that "being a dad is hard work" and that his "impatience" is sometimes an issue.

The dancer and KISS radio presenter is dad to sons Cassius, five, and Atreus, four months, as well as four year old daughter, Mimi.

Jordan, who is the younger brother of Dancing on Ice judge, Ashely Banjo, shares a close bond with his daughter – and often spends time doing her hair – so it was only natural that he decided to team up with Currys and Dyson for their latest campaign, which encourages dads to do their daughters' hair.

Sitting down for an exclusive chat with OK! Jordan opened up on life as a dad of three, how he spends much-needed quality time with his wife, Naomi, and the way that fatherhood has changed him.

OK!: How much has your life changed, now you're a dad of three?

Jordan: As weird as it sounds, becoming parents to three children is way less of a shock than going from one child to two.

When my daughter Mimi, was born, my son Cassius was just learning to walk, so you had to have eyes on him all the time.

That was a really difficult transition, but when you go from two to three – Atreus just slotted in, he’s a really chilled baby, but he’s only three months old, he doesn’t really do much.

We are loving it, and the kids love him. Mimi is his favourite – you can already tell.


OK!: Do you find it hard to divide your time between three children?

Jordan: I’m not going to lie – it is difficult. Maybe some parents have cracked it and they can divide their time perfectly, but it really is difficult, and it depends on the day.

Some days Mimi might be more needy, and another day it could be Cassius. But the hard part… they’re both at that age, especially Cass, my eldest, he’s got things like school projects that he wants to talk to me about, but sometimes I might be trying to put the baby down to sleep, or feeding him, and I can’t give Cass all of my attention.

It's hard because my children are at the age where they can’t understand, but they’re so patient and I couldn’t be more proud of them.

With my radio show and other work commitments, I’m out a lot, but as a parent, you do the best you can.

OK!: How do you manage a work/life balance as a parent?

Jordan: I have to give credit to my wife, Na, because she holds the whole ship together.

She always makes the most of the time that we have together, which is really nice, so we are all together as a family.

I’ll be like, listen, I have a few hours free today, but it might be from when I finish Kiss (radio show) at 11, until three, but I might have work later, so I’ll see Na then, but I might not get to see the kids, so it’s really hard to juggle my time, but she makes the most of whatever time we have, and makes sure that when we can be together, we are.

If I’m doing a show, she will look after the kids and sometimes travel with them so that they can come and see me. She smashes it.

OK!: How do you spend quality time with Naomi?

Jordan: You just have to squeeze it in where you can. Again, hats of to Na, she is always super switched on with the kids, when it comes to having their routines and things like that, so they have set bed times, then that’s when we can spend some quality time together and steal some time back.

OK! Why did you team up with Currys and Dyson for this campaign?

Jordan: When I was younger, my dad was very hands-on with my little sister, he would do her hair, which is why I got involved with the Dyson X Curry’s campaign.

I think you would naturally assume that mums are more likely to do their daughters’ hair or be with them more than the dad, perhaps.

But my experience growing up was really quite different. So when I saw the research for the campaign when half of the women don’t remember their dads doing their hair, or a lot of dads don’t feel comfortable in that scenario, I understand it, because there is a lot of pressure, especially when you’ve got a bossy little girl like Mimi who wants her hair done in the right way, it is hard.

But because it’s something I’ve always seen my dad do, and now I do it, I love having that bond with Mimi – it is bonding time for us.

I will sit and ask her ‘how do you want your hair doing? In little plaits or space buns or your natural curly hair?’ It’s a fun bonding time for us and we really enjoy it.

Curry’s has the largest range of Dyson hair technology and, in-store, there are experts to help you pick the right thing for you.

My advice would be ‘get yourself down to Curry’s, pick a hair product then use YouTube – it’s your best friend’. What is the worst that can happen? You do it wrong – that’s okay, it’s trial and error.

I enjoy spending time with my daughter doing her hair and coming up with different ways of doing it.

Speaking about being a dad and how it's changed him, Jordan said: "It teaches you things about yourself. It makes you look inwards at yourself, at things you maybe don’t do brilliantly, even for yourself.

"You have to look at those things you could do better for yourself to be better for your kids.

"Anyone that knows me will tell you that I am one of the most impatient people in the world. I like everything to be done, I like to get cracking. I like to be in control of stuff and make sure it’s all sorted.

"But you can’t do that with kids. It’s not the way it goes.

"More than anything, seeing these little reflections of you – the good and the bad. As I said, sometimes I can be very impatient and I can see that in Mimi, but when you walk through the door, they're so happy to see you – it makes your heart melt."

Currys and Dyson have teamed up with Jordan Banjo to help dads around the country simplify the process of styling their daughters’ hair. With a new survey revealing that nearly half of women never had their hair styled by their dads when they were younger, Jordan has released some content to show that with tools like the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer, styling your daughter’s hair has never been easier, no matter what hair type she has.

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