Popular content creators Matt and Abby Howard denied online speculation that they left their young children alone in a cruise ship cabin while they left for dinner.
Over the weekend, the pair faced a flurry of criticism from their followers online after Abby Howard, 25, posted an Instagram story in which she shared that she and her husband put their 1- and 2-year-old boys to bed and then FaceTimed the baby monitors when they went out to eat.
In a video Monday, the couple sat down and told viewers that assumption was false.
“People started to speculate and believe that we had left our children alone in their staterooms. And that is just completely untrue, because we had someone with our children at all times on this boat, period,” Matt Howard, 26, said in the video, clarifying that they had gone on the cruise with Abby Howard’s extended family.
Nodding in agreement, Abby Howard noted that she understands why her Instagram story led to a “misunderstanding,” saying that is why she chose to delete the post within a few hours.
A spokesperson for the Howards declined to add further comment.
The influencers, who share 5.3 million TikTok followers and 7.35 million YouTube subscribers on their joint accounts, are high school sweethearts who also co-host “The Unplanned Podcast,” where clips of the two discussing their relationship and family dynamic have often stirred viral discourse.
In her weekend Instagram story, Abby Howard had written that it “became apparent” her young boys weren’t enjoying the cruise, which made it so she and her husband couldn’t, either.
“So THEN we switched our dinner time to AFTER their bedtime and FaceTimed the monitors while we ate,” she wrote, adding that baby monitors didn’t work on board unless they were close. “And that worked out muchhhh better for everyone!:)”
Her comments prompted some online to comment and respond with videos criticizing the couple’s decision.
In their video Monday, Abby Howard thanked those who expressed worry for their children’s safety.
“As their parents, that is our first and foremost main concern, but to know that other people share those same concerns for our precious boys, it really means a lot. Thank you,” she said. “But I do want to clarify that we have not, would not, will not ever leave our children unattended. We would never, ever want to put them in harm’s way in any way.”
She added that their children sleep in blackout tents every night, both at home and during any family travels, so she and her husband “always” turn on the baby monitor to see inside the tents regardless of whether they are in the room with their boys.
“We’re always concerned about them, and so that’s why, even when we would tag team and take turns at family dinner, we would turn on FaceTime so we could also have eyes on them as their parents, if we weren’t the ones attending them in that moment,” Abby Howard said.
