What Happened To Supernanny Jo Frost?

It's a bird, it's a plane... You know where we're going with this: it's Supernanny! Joanne "Jo" Frost started her career as a nanny when she was 18, working for a variety of different families over the course of 15 years. In 2004, however, she kicked things up a notch when she was hired by Channel 4 to serve as the titular star of a series called "Supernanny."

The series, which followed Frost as she worked with families facing issues regarding behavior and child-rearing, was a quick hit. It racked up to 6 million viewers during its first season and immediately scored a renewal and, inevitably, an American adaptation, also starring Frost.

"There's no nanny system in the US — anyone who takes care of children is called a babysitter — so people in the states have a high regard for the English nanny," Frost told Made For Mums. "The only one they really know is Mary Poppins, and her name was mentioned in all the pre-show publicity. I was proud that it was good PR for English nannies, after some of the bad press we've had." After five seasons on Channel 4 and seven seasons on ABC, "Supernanny" was canceled, with Frost walking away from the series, citing a need for more balance in her life. Here's the truth about what "Supernanny" star Jo Frost has been up to since then.

Given that "Supernanny" ran for five seasons and became a TV phenomenon on both sides of the pond, it was perhaps only inevitable that Jo Frost would find her way back onto the airwaves sooner than later. Indeed, it was only about a year and a half before Frost returned to viewers' TV screens: "Supernanny" concluded its run on October 8, 2008, and her new series, "Jo Frost: Extreme Parental Guidance," debuted on the UK's Channel 4 on February 10, 2010.

Unlike her prim look in "Supernanny," which was designed specifically for the series, Frost was very much herself in appearance for "Extreme Parental Guidance," giving her a chance to literally let her hair down for a change, not to mention dress a bit more casual. "I would say that my personality is a lot larger than a suit," she told The Telegraph. "But [the 'Supernanny' look] was very cleverly put together, without a doubt."

The series also found her traveling around the UK to offer assistance to families dealing with a wide range of issues. "What we are going to look at, which is very important to me, is the amount of family time that we actually spend together and how we can improve that," she told Female First. "Because it's something that families always come to me and say that's what they struggle with, trying to find that time to actually be together." "Extreme Parental Guidance" ran for two seasons and 14 episodes, the final of which aired on August 5, 2012.

During the course of her run on the original incarnation of "Supernanny," Jo Frost wrote three books: "Supernanny: How to Get the Best from Your Children," "Ask Supernanny: What Every Parent Wants to Know," and "Jo Frost's Confident Baby Care." Since the show's conclusion, she's penned another trio of tomes: "Jo Frost's Confident Toddler Care," "Jo Frost's Toddler SOS," and her most recent effort, "Jo Frost's Toddler Rules: Your 5-Step Guide to Shaping Proper Behavior."

The latter book was partially inspired by the various questions that had been posed to her by fans, but Frost attributed a portion of the credit to a news report. "I sat in front of the television once and actually saw that an airline had turned around an airplane because a family had a child that was having a temper tantrum," she told NPR in 2014. "And it just seemed this repetitive question about how to manage and control your children's behavior and what to do when your children are misbehaving at the dining table and how to be able to have great play dates with other children misbehaving."

In another interview supporting "Toddler Rules," Frost acknowledged that the most important part of solving parents' problems was simply listening to them. "What I found was that a lot of parents were approaching me without understanding how they could shape better behavior in the desired areas; whether it be sleeping, or eating, just how to understand what happens and really what they could do to help their children," she explained. "So this book takes everything I have heard from parents about what they need to facilitate after the first year, the talking years."

For this series, Frost made the jump to TLC while also opting to change things up a bit in terms of the problems she was endeavoring to solve. "When I filmed the 'Supernanny' show I was helping parents with toddlers who had unruly behavior," she told CBS News. "But all the work I was doing with the adults, as well as the children and the adults, was never on the show. ... This time, I was like, 'That needs to be seen.'"

Although she came to fame because of her work with toddlers on "Supernanny," Frost was quick to acknowledge during her publicity blitz for the series that she's spent plenty of time dealing with teenagers over the years, and the differences aren't as substantial as one might think. "You're still looking at the same issues: relationships with their parents, with their siblings," she told Metro. "It's just that they've been going on for much longer."

Debuting on May 28, 2013, "Family S.O.S. with Jo Frost" only lasted for a six-episode season before coming to a conclusion on July 2, but it nonetheless proved successful at dismissing the perception that Frost's skills were limited solely to the under-four set.

When Jo Frost decided to take on the task of adapting "Supernanny" for American television, she knew it was going to take up enough of her time that she'd need to actually be based in America, which is why she relocated to California. What she probably never imagined at the time, however, is that she'd end up enjoying it enough to maintain a residence there permanently, splitting her time between the US and the UK.

"I love living close to water, which is why I like California so much," she told The Express. "Nothing quite beats a brisk walk along the sea front. Living here I am spoilt for choice with beautiful beaches, but my favorite has to be Laguna Beach in Orange County."

In 2016, she utilized the fact that she was spending so much time in America to kickstart a new series for the Up TV network: "Jo Frost: Nanny on Tour," in which she travels by RV to various families around the country to help them with their parenting problems. "My mobile office on 'Nanny on Tour' really is a parental clinic," she told Smashing Interviews. "The mobile office is where I work from going across America to help families, and it actually stops in town squares to provide a public service to the hundreds of families that come to ask for help as well. This show really takes it up a few notches to say the least." Alas, the series only ran for a single 10-episode season, but it still succeeded in keeping Frost prominent in viewers' minds.

In an effort to expand her TV palate, Jo Frost's next series was one that found her splitting her time between family visits and in-studio conversations. The format: the families — two per episode — agree in advance to have their day-to-day lives filmed, after which they meet Frost in the studio to try and resolve their problems together. "It's called 'Family Matters' because family matters," she told HuffPost. "We're all family at the end of the day — connected to other members of our family as adults or children. It's about creating good relationships with our family and learning how to have healthy relationships."

"This is me going in and helping families in the way that I do, which is with the utmost respect and integrity," she explained to The Herald. "I cradle these families when they're feeling so raw and vulnerable, and help them so that they can really feel good when they leave. They've got a game plan."

The hour-long program, which aired on ITV, was only on the air for a few months, making its debut on April 28, 2014 and wrapping its run on September 5. During the course of that time, however, Frost managed to film 35 episodes.

In regards to speaking out on the importance of getting vaccinated, Jo Frost was ahead of the curve, having been a part of Shot@Life since 2014. The campaign's goal was to save a child's life every 20 seconds by expanding access to vaccines, and given Frost's history of working with children, the collaboration was an obvious win-win for both parties.

"My work in the parental arena has given me the smiles, the laughs, and the excitement as well as the privilege to be a part of so many firsts in a child's life," Frost said in the initial press release announcing her participation. "Childhood vaccinations are a rite of passage for most of us, but for some that is not the case. As millions of children globally die every year from a vaccine preventable disease. With just a small change we can make a huge impact."

Frost even appeared at a summit on Capitol Hill to help draw attention to the cause. "While the escalating war on vaccinating at home wages on, I am fighting for the parents in less fortunate countries," Frost said at the event, per Washington Life Magazine. "Vaccines save children from preventable fatal diseases and can ensure that their children may live to celebrate their first birthday, something parents here often take for granted." Mind you, Frost wasn't alone as an advocate: she also teamed with actor Amanda Peet for an additional campaign, the Walgreens / United Nations Foundation Get a Shot, in an effort to debunk anti-vaccination conspiracies.

In 2014, Jo Frost teamed up with Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), an organization that is near and dear to her heart. As she told Allergic Living the year prior, "I'm allergic to all nuts, peanuts, crustaceans and rye. I have asthma and that's triggered by tobacco, severe changes in weather, pollen, strong household cleaning products, mold, animal dander, lilies. ...  I have to say that overall, this country lacks a compassion for those with severe allergies."

Joining up with FARE, Frost was eager to use her platform to advocate for others who can relate to her struggles with allergic reactions. "This program raises critical funds and awareness to support FARE's mission of finding a cure for food allergies, and keeping individuals with food allergies safe and included," Frost said in a press release at the time. "I am so pleased to help advance the cause of the food allergy community, and I hope you will join me in this effort."

As it happens, many others did join Frost for that walk, resulting in the event raising over $50,000 for food allergy research, education, advocacy, and awareness.  It's worth mentioning that Frost's 2014 collaboration with FARE is one that would come to mean even more to Frost in recent years – we'll get to that shortly — and it's led her to further team with the organization in recent years to continue raising awareness about allergies.

A number of actors have gotten into the animation game. Elle Fanning has leant her voice to cartoon characters. Rami Malek has voiced cartoon characters. J.K. Simmons has voiced cartoon characters. While she isn't best known as an actor, Jo Frost has found success with voice acting gigs, one of which even gave her a chance to belt out a tune. "I am suddenly the coolest auntie in the world — in fact, I have achieved an unprecedented level of cool!" Frost told TV Guide. "My little niece, Isabella, is a huge fan of 'Jake and the Never Land Pirates,' and she is beside herself that I am playing Captain Hook's nanny. I have officially arrived."

Having always been animated as a nanny — as in the energetic, enthusiastic sense of the word — Frost viewed the opportunity to literally become a cartoon as a natural extension of her existing tendencies. She gushed to the outlet, "It was such a natural thing for me to do, and now I'm helping tell a great story for the people at Disney — and they even let me sing a little opera! It does not get better."

Even better for Frost, it wasn't a one-off opportunity: the following year, she popped up on the Disney Junior series "P. King Duck," playing – what else? – a nanny, this time helping P. Duck and his friends babysit a baby lemur.

In 2017, Jo Frost hosted "Jo Frost on Britain's Killer Kids." The four-part documentary series, done in conjunction with A&E's Crime + Investigation network in the UK, focused on child murderers, with each episode focusing on a specific child. ​"How families function and observing behavior patterns for decades led me very keen to develop this idea," Frost said when the series was initially announced, per the Royal Television Society. "I'm extremely excited to be doing my debut documentary series for Crime + Investigation on such an important and yet gripping issue."  The series profiled four different children who had committed gruesome crimes and dug into the nature versus nurture debate. 

Unlike her previous programs, this series wasn't designed to be long-running: Frost only examined the stories of four kids, telling Evoke that "each of the four cases the show investigates had a common denominator of the children having a complex, if not abusive, home environment." 

After leaving behind the series that initially brought her fame and keeping it in her rear view mirror for more than a decade, Jo Frost agreed to a revival of the show for the Lifetime network, signing a deal to do 20 episodes. "Coming back and doing the 'Supernanny' show was so needed," Frost told iHollywoodTV. "There were so many families pouring out emails to my website, asking for help, and that never, ever really went away when the 'Supernanny' show did in 2011, and...the time was right."

The 2020 version of "Supernanny" wasn't entirely dissimilar from the original incarnation of the series — Frost made a point of keeping the bit where she comes out of the house she's visiting and just lays everything on the line as far as how bad things are inside — but this time around she borrowed some elements from the series she'd worked on in the interim, namely expanding things to cover more than just toddlers this time around.

"Back then it was predominantly toddlers, and inappropriate, mischievous behavior," she told Reality Blurred. "Now it's helping families of all different ages: you could be a young adult living at home with a baby with your mom and dad, you could be a parent, a grandparent looking after children while one [parent] is deployed. My approaches and techniques and advice have to be different, because I'm dealing with different circumstances." For whatever reason, the 2020 "Supernanny" didn't grab viewers in the same way that it used to: the revival only lasted for a single season.

As noted, Jo Frost's desire to be affiliated with FARE was very personal for her, having struggled with allergies all her life. And in a 2025 Instagram post, she revealed that she'd actually been diagnosed with anaphylaxis, making the connection to FARE all the more important to her. As it happens, she'd already casually revealed the condition in an episode of the "Supernanny" reboot, but this was the first time she'd really underlined that she was suffering from it.

Knowing that not everyone might be aware of what anaphylaxis even is, Frost described it as "a life-threatening medical condition to certain foods that will compromise my body so horrifically to the point of hospitalization," detailing the precautions she has to take just for day-to-day living. In fact, she likened herself to the Terminator, scoping out the territory and making sure that it's safe for her and that there isn't anything out in the open that might be dangerous, given her condition.

The dangerous stuff that she needs to avoid? Nuts, shellfish, and horses, any of which will cause her ears to itch and her eyes to swell, after which she begins to have trouble breathing and becomes dizzy. Knowing that she's not the only one dealing with this sort of thing, Frost has an eye on helping to increase awareness and secure health and safety standards. "I want families that drop their toddlers off to daycare to feel that their children are in the care of staff who actually are trained with anaphylaxis and allergies. Because if that's not, then you might as well put a loaded gun in my face, because that's the threat that you've just given me."