Peter Crouch says children used to mock his daughter about his height.
Peter Crouch
The 6ft 7inch retired footballer - who has kids Sophia, eight, Liberty, four, Johnny, 21 months, and Jack, four months, with wife Abbey Clancy - always hoped he would be a "cool dad" but he got a shock when he took Sophia to summer camp and she wouldn't let him take her inside because the other kids were poking fun at her.
He said: "My little girl, the eldest one, I took her to summer camp and she was like, 'Dad don't come in,' because the kids were making fun because her dad was so tall. She didn't want me to come in.
"I thought I'd be a real cool dad but obviously not.
"I let her run in and then she realised the boys liked football and the next day she was like, 'Dad, do you want to come in the class?' It's amazing how she's changed."
Peter admits he has also found it tough to deal with the fan abuse he received over his frame early on his career, which nearly made him quit the beautiful game.
He said: "I dealt with it through humour really but I got a lot of stick ... people's opinion changed when I started playing and they realised that I could play.
"I remember making my debut for QPR and I got so much abuse, I got called, 'Freak ... Does the circus know you're here?'
"It's funny to look back on now but at the time it wasn't. I found it tough. I had to sit down with my dad and I was like, 'I don't know if I want to pursue it.'
And the former England striker's dad took a physical approach to defending his son from supporters.
He added: "My dad, he wore his heart on his sleeve and I'm his son, he was always protecting me.
"In the early days, he found it as tough as me. You go from playing with your mates to playing in front of 40,000 people and 30,000 of them are abusing you, it can be hard.
"My dad just couldn't handle it ... all these people would be shouting and screaming at me and he'd just turn around and just lamp one."
The 38-year-old star called time on his career in July this year, and admitted he started to feel "degraded" towards end of playing days because he was just being subbed on for short spells to win balls in the air.
Speaking on 'The Jonathan Ross Show', he added: "I felt I could have played on. I just felt it got to the stage where, I've called it 'a head on a stick.'
"Basically I'm getting wheeled out the last 10 minutes of games and I'm basically there because I'm tall, I'm heading balls, flicking balls.
"I used to be alright and I felt a little bit like it was a bit degrading towards the end."
'The Jonathan Ross Show' airs Saturday (02.11.19) at 10.20pm on ITV.
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