'SUPERNANNY' FORCED KIDS TO CRY FOR SHOW

[Brian Damage]

October 4, 2007 -- THIS hasn't been a good week for "Super nanny" Jo Frost.

Just days after one of her former charges allegedly burned his house down, producers of the British version of "Supernanny" now say they're often forced to make kiddies cry on Frost's popular reality show, which airs on Britain's Channel 4.

"They were told to force children to cry on 'Supernanny,' " Channel 4 board member Roger Graef said during a seminar at the London School of Economics.

"In some reality programs I have had producers come to me and say, 'I can't do this anymore.' "

But Channel 4 officials insist this has never happened on "Supernanny."

"In the three years of filming 'Supernanny,' we have seen absolutely no evidence to support these claims," a Channel 4 spokesman told The Telegraph.

"Channel 4 takes these matters very seriously, and have been assured by [production company] Ricochet that this has not and would not happen on 'Supernanny.' "

Frost, who also hosts ABC's version of "Supernanny," has been criticized before by parent groups in the U.K.

Some of them take issue with her nannying techniques - including making misbehaving rugrats sit on stairs (called "naughty steps") until they're calm.

Earlier this week, a mom and her five sons in England, who were visited by Frost two years ago, were left homeless when one of the kids torched the drapes and burned their house down.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10042007...ds_to_cry_.htm