Why does The Project want to squash every kid’s fantasy?

Oh Waleed, why would you go and kill the tooth fairy?

If Kitty Flanagan outing Santa Claus as a made-up dude last year wasn’t bad enough, now Waleed Aly has gone and killed off the Tooth Fairy.

The Project host declared live on air last night that the Tooth Fairy was dead, prompting immediate complaints by parents on social media.

The comment followed a segment on Olympic gold medallist, Bryan Clay, who used a string attached to a javelin to remove his daughter’s tooth.

While the hosts chatted about parents using their children as fodder for internet videos, Aly joked: “That one especially is bad though, because the Tooth Fairy was killed in that particular video. I’m sorry to have to tell you.”

But fellow host Gorgi Coghlan – perhaps wary following the Santa debacle – and guest Gretel Killeen quickly stepped in to rectify the joke.

“No, tell the children you’re kidding,” Killeen prompted.

But co-host Pete Helliar continued the gag: “It’s a breaking story that should have been at the top of the show to be honest.”

And Killeen continued the clean-up: “The Tooth Fairy is alive and well.”

“She’s fine and she’ll be picking up teeth all around the globe tonight, Waleed,” added Coghlan.

The efforts to fix the gaffe were admirable, but not quite quick enough judging by the social media backlash.

This story was written in collaboration with iVillage. 

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Do you think killing off imaginary childhood figures on primetime TV is going too far?