Pat Rafter laughs as he remembers the day his daughter India arrived, happily admitting she could never have won a beautiful baby competition.
“When my daughter was born, oh my goodness, she looked a little bit unfortunate – it was a bit of a shocker,” he says. “My son came out pretty cut but my daughter was sort of funky looking. At the time, we went, oh no!”
Pat, 43, makes his funny confession about India – who, going by the new family picture Pat shared with Woman’s Day below, has since grown into a beautiful young girl despite her dad’s fears – while surrounded by tiny tots on the set of a short film, which is being shot to promote the 2016 Bonds Baby Search.
We reckon Pat’s daughter India might have a stern word for him when she grows up!
There are plenty of laughs as Pat compares notes on fatherhood with radio jock Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald and comedian Dave Hughes, who says he would never call someone else’s baby ugly but admits some are “more interesting looking” than others.
He says when his three kids Rafferty, 6, Sadie, 4 and Tess, 3, were babies people regularly asked him if they were really his. He even had a paternity test done on Rafferty and revealed the results on air just to shut up the doubters.
Fitzy, Pat and Dave with the tiny actors in their new video for Bonds.
“I’m still happy with the result that came back,” he says. “They all have gaps in their teeth as well, which is a signature Hughes look!”
He credits his beautiful wife Holly for their good looks and says she even flirted with the idea of entering them in baby competitions.
“We’d look at the Bonds baby competition every year and even though she is very diplomatic I could see her mind ticking over thinking we could have won,” he says.
Dave says he’d like to think he’s a “great dad” even if he gets more laughs than respect from his kids.
“They do laugh at me and with me, and they also tell great knock, knock jokes.”
Fitzy says he spends every spare minute he has with his two sons, Hewie, 5 and Lenny, 2, who are fast developing into little mini-me’s of their dad.
“I absolutely adore being a dad,” he says.
“My two boys are my two best mates and we do everything together. My eldest is just starting to get into sport and he has a love of ACDC, so it just melts my heart when I see my boys start to enjoy the stuff dad gets into.”
Dave Hughes strikes a pose. #Dadsofinstagram!
The three famous dads will star in a short film, best described as a parody focusing on WTF modern dad moments, including celebrating the recent phenomenon “Dads of Instagram”.
The video marks the launch of the annual Bonds Baby Search – watch it at the top of this story and prepare to laugh!
To enter, visit bonds.com.au/babysearch. The winner will be announced on March 24.
