Carson Daly admits he turned to Snapchat for help connecting with 13-year-old daughter

Key Points

• Carson Daly admits he’s had some trouble connecting with his 13-year-old daughter, Etta.

• His solution? Meeting her where she’s at… on Snapchat.

• The Today host and father of four says he and Etta talk even more on the app than they do in-person.

Carson Daly is taking an unconventional approach to communicating with his daughter.

On Monday, the Today host joined Jenna Bush Hager for an episode of Today With Jenna & Sheinelle that saw the duo bond over the difficulties of getting through to their teenage kids. In Daly’s case, the father of four shared that while his 13-year-old daughter Etta is “doing great,” there is one problem: they duo “never speak” anymore. Because now that she’s entered her teenage years, it’s become impossible.

“Do you speak 13-year-old?” Daly asked Hager. “‘Cause I don’t.”

He explained, “You ever hear that phrase, ‘You’ve got to meet kids where they are?’ You hear it in business a lot.”

Well, in the spirit of meeting his daughter where she is, Daly has downloaded a new app.

“I’ve taken a page out of that, and six months ago, I did join Snapchat,” he shared. “I have literally communicated with my daughter in particular, more via Snapchat than I have in real life.”

“Does it work?” asked Hager.

“I can say, ‘Are you okay?'” Daly said. “And then I’ll put some stupid emoji. And she’ll write back, like, ‘LOL,’ and all these little things are flying all over the screen.”

He then pointed out that though it’s a little ridiculous to be trading emojis back and forth with his 13-year-old, it’s proven to be an effective way of getting a response from her.

“As silly as it is, I am connected a little bit,” he said with a smile.

Daly also acknowledged that it’s no small feat for him to be brought over to Snapchat when he would rather avoid social media entirely.

“I hate it. When I play golf, I keep my phone in the golf bag now, and it’s four hours uninterrupted,” he added. “It’s my favorite time. I love it.”

Daly shares his four kids — Jackson, 17, Etta, 13, London, 11, and Goldie, 6 — with wife Siri.

Earlier in the episode, The Voice host offered more insight into his approach to fatherhood during a conversation about dating dealbreakers. The subject was broached after he and Bush Hager unpacked Kylie Kelce’s recent comments about not letting her kids date any Dallas Cowboys Fans, prompting Daly to weigh in with his own take.

“The only reservation I would have for my kids would be, like, a vegan or something,” Daly began.

Before he could finish, the show’s producers burst into laughter backstage and Daly looked around, asking, “Is that bad to say? Am I gonna get canceled for that?”

He went on to explain that food is an important part of his family.

“If we didn’t have food, I wouldn’t talk to my wife about anything. It holds us together,” he said.

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Daly quickly clarified that his disdain for picky eaters does not extend to people with food allergies.

“I’m not the devil!” he exclaimed. “I don’t wish illness on boyfriends! I’m just saying it would suck if they came into the house on a Sunday, and we were going do like a big Daly feast, we make pizzas, and they were like, ‘I can’t eat anything.’ I would just be like, ‘He’s a loser. Dump him.'”

Watch Daly talk about his journey to Snapchat above.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly