Parental Guidance (Australian TV series)

Parental Guidance is an Australian parenting reality series hosted by Ally Langdon and parenting expert Dr Justin Coulson, which premiered on the Nine Network on 1 November 2021.^[1][2]

Parental Guidance
Also known as	The Parent Jury
Genre	Reality television
Created by	Chris Culvenor
Directed by	Olivia Peniston-Bird
Presented by	Ally Langdon Justin Coulson
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	17
Production
Executive producer	Vanessa Oxlad
Production location	Sydney
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	59–77 minutes
Production company	Eureka Productions
Original release
Network	Nine Network
Release	1 November 2021 (2021-11-01) – present

Format

The series features several different families each having different parenting styles. In each episode, the participants compete in several parenting challenges to determine which is the best parenting style.^[1]

In the first season of the series, there are ten families who have different styles.^[2] In the second season, there are 12 parents, which go through the parenting challenges in groups of 4.^[3]

Production

The series is produced by Eureka Productions and was created by Chris Culvenor.^[1][4] It was originally announced at Nine Entertainment's 2021 upfront on 16 September 2020 to be titled The Parent Jury with Supernanny host Jo Frost.^[5] However, due to restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, Frost was unable to travel for filming and the series proceeded without her, with the series being retitled to Parental Guidance.^[6]

Auditions for a second season were opened in January 2022,^[7] which was renewed in September 2022.^[8] and debuted on 5 June 2023.^[9] It aired throughout June 2023.^[3]

Auditions for a third season in 2025 were opened in October 2024,^[10] after it was announced in September 2023, that the series would possibly return for a third season in 2024.^[11] The third season will premiere on 30 June 2025, however with fewer episodes.^[12]

Series details

Season		Episodes	No. of families	Originally aired
				Season premiere	Season finale
	1	9	10	1 November 2021 (2021-11-01)	16 November 2021 (2021-11-16)
	2	7	12	5 June 2023 (2023-06-05)	20 June 2023 (2023-06-20)
	3	TBA	8	30 June 2025 (2025-06-30)

Families

Season 1

Family[13]	No. of children	Parenting style	Hometown	Group
Andrew & Miriam	3	Strict	NSW	A
Liadhan & Richard	5	Nature	SA
Lara & Andrew	2	Attachment	Victoria
Brett & Tony	4	Routine
Yann & Donna	1	French	NSW
Kevin & Debbie	2	Tiger		B
Deb	6	Home School	Queensland
Rachel & Sam	2	Helicopter
Penny & Daniel	3	Free Range	NSW
Rob & Sioux	2	Disciplined	SA

Season 2

Family[14]	No. of children	Parenting style	Hometown
Amy & John	3	Road school parenting	Echuca
Kat & Jonathon	2	Influencer parenting	Gold Coast
Larissa & Marcus	4	Gentle parenting	Adelaide
Sammy & Jason		Lighthouse parenting	Gold Coast
Tency & David	3	Outback parenting	Mareeba
Kat	2	Honest parenting	Adelaide
Kajal & Deepak		Spiritual parenting	Sydney
Sarah & Shane	3	Stage parenting
Mark & Leanne	6	Team parenting
Philippa & Chris	3	Slow style parenting	Cairns
Kim & Nick	1	American parenting	Brisbane
Melody & Michael	3	Unstructured parenting

Season 3

Family[15]	No. of children	Parenting style	Hometown
Hassan & Amanda	5	Hard Way	Sydney
Nathan & Joanne	2	Traditional	Gold Coast
John & Courtney	3	Pro-tech	Newcastle
Marc & Amy	3	Active	Gold Coast
Mark & Tammy	4	Up Front	Melbourne
Nick & Sofia	2	Positivity	Wollongong
Sean & Elvie	2	Authoritative	Perth
Josh & Cassie	5	Life School	Full Time Caravanners

International versions

Country	Local name	Network	Presenter(s)	Airdate
United States	The Parent Test	American Broadcasting Company	Ali Wentworth Adolph Brown	15 December 2022[16]

Ratings

Season 1 (2021)

No. in series	No. in season	Original airdate	Viewers
1	1	1 November 2021	629,000[17]
2	2	2 November 2021	547,000[18]
3	3	3 November 2021	536,000[19]
4	4	8 November 2021	604,000[20]
5	5	9 November 2021	520,000[21]
6	6	10 November 2021	517,000[22]
7	7	14 November 2021	487,000[23]
8	8	15 November 2021	481,000[24]
9	9	16 November 2021	478,000[25]

Season 2 (2023)

No. in series	No. in season	Original airdate	Viewers
10	1	5 June 2023	511,000[26]
11	2	6 June 2023	433,000[27]
12	3	12 June 2023	445,000[28]
13	4	13 June 2023	420,000[29]
14	5	18 June 2023	375,000[30]
15	6	19 June 2023	398,000[31]
16	7	20 June 2023	411,000[32]

Season 3 (2025)

No. in series	No. in season	Episode title	Original airdate	Viewers
17	1	"Screen Time"	30 June 2025	729,000[33]
18	2	"Peer Pressure"	7 July 2025	671,000[34]
19	3	"Body Positivity"	14 July 2025	640,000[35]
20	4	"Mental Health"	21 July 2025

Reception

Bridget McManus of The Age said, "Despite the conflict and the competition format, Coulson insists Parental Guidance is not designed to judge or shame."^[6]