Best buddies Mike Tindall and James Haskell appeared on the This Morning sofa on Thursday to promote their new book, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby - Unlocked. During the chat, James opened up about co-parenting his daughter, Bohdi ,with ex-partner Chloe Madeley, and then attention turned to Mike and his own family. He and Zara share three kids: Mia, 11, Lena, seven, and Lucas, four. The England star confessed that "girls are hard" before he set the record straight on the flurry of press he received after AirTagging his daughter to track her whereabouts.
"Are you offering advice to James?" quizzed presenter Ben Shephard, to which Mike laughed: "I'm still living it." He then added: "Girls are hard, but you'll be fine." James looks to Mike as a role model, he admitted. "Mike is one of the best dads, I see him with his kids and his family, and I've said, 'I want to be like Mike as a dad'," said James.
Ben also took the opportunity to probe Mike on tracking his children after there was a media storm when his daughter Mia was spotted during the Burghley Horse Trials in September 2025. Mike revealed: "Literally that's the only time I've done it," and explained to Ben and Cat that it came about because "Mia doesn't have a phone, but I wanted to know how to find her," and he happened to be given an AirTag in a press goodie bag so in an impromptu moment, decided to use it on her at the event. Many publications then picked this up, discussing whether it was a good idea to track your kids.
HELLO! Editor, Jessica Callan approves of this technique for her children's safety. "My daughter is 13 and I feel safe in the knowledge I can keep tabs on where she is via the Find My app. Especially when she collects my seven-year-old son from school and they walk back home, it means I can watch them in real time. I know I will have to give her privacy at some point and not check up on her when she's older but just not yet!"
Deputy Features Editor, Sophie Hamilton is also a fan: "My children are aged 12 and 14. I use the location feature on the Family Link app, which shows me where my children are with a timestamp. It's great for helping me know their whereabouts as they travel to and from school and helps keep them safe. The app also lets me control their screen time on their phone, and I like that everything is in one place."
Josh Osman, Junior Lifestyle Writer, tells us what its like from the child's perspective as his dad started tracking his whereabouts as a teen. "When I was a teen, it felt a little bit like an invasion of privacy, but as I got older I understood the safety aspect of it a little more."
Life with the Tindalls
When Mike guest-edited a special edition of Beano earlier this year, to celebrate Bananaman’s 45th anniversary, his editor's letter mentioned family life. He wrote: "My job now is being a dad and I love it. It’s important to set a good example, so I play pranks on the kids and their mum. I love hiding and jumping out to scare them. It works best on mum – she screams SO loudly! The kids’ favourite prank is to hide under the table and tie people’s shoelaces together!"
Mia and her younger sister, Lena, are both sporty like their parents, with rugby star Mike revealing to HELLO! in 2023: "Both Mia and Lena go to Minchinhampton rugby club on a Sunday and they are only nine and four so we've got to give them a bit of time before the pressure comes on but they love all sports and they play rugby as well." We're sure Lucas is now catching up fast, too!
The family live together inside Aston Farm, a nine-bedroom property on Zara's mother Princess Anne's Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire. The converted barn features a cinema room, a home gym and a modern kitchen. The family also have stables and access to the "party barn" that's on the estate, which is used for family functions.