Just weeks after warning parents about a worrying new feature on the Snapchat platform, Loose Women panellist Nadia Sawalha has opened up about the shock moment her daughter was targeted by online perverts.

Recalling the family’s ‘horrendous’ ordeal on yesterday’s (July 27th) episode of the hit daytime show the mum-of-two how revealed that Maddy – now 14 – and a friend had been left vulnerable after using an online streaming service. What had started out as an innocent diversion for the then nine-year-old’s took an unexpected and sinister turn.

Nadia Sawalha’s story – a parent’s worst nightmare

Nadia explained: “One of Maddy’s friends who was on a live streaming platform and was completely innocent to what she was doing – she was chatting to some other friends or something.

“And then this thing came up saying “Do you want to come and see our pets?” So she inadvertently goes into a chat room and, I mean this is really horrendous, these guys started to talk to her and the camera changed and then all three of them flashed at her.”

For more help and advice on visit the NSPCC’s online safety for children guide.

Maddy, appearing on the show which had online safety as its focus – added: “It was a link that was connected to Facebook and she clicked onto it because her friends were on it. But their faces were blurred and then this image popped up.”