THE government has enlisted Robin Gibb, the Bee Gees singer, and Gary Lineker, the sports presenter, to encourage fathers separated from their children to stay close to them.

In an interview to be shown at a launch event this week by Ed Balls, the children’s secretary, Gibb, 58, speaks of having been “very, very nervous” and “horrified” at the prospect of seeing his children, Spencer and Melissa, for the first time after he divorced his first wife, Molly Hullis, in 1980. “‘Out of control’ is the first emotion alienated parents feel when they’re separated from their kids,” says Gibb. “They feel threatened. They feel as if they are not dictating events.”

Gibb says that one of the most difficult parts of reestablishing the relationship with children is knowing there might be another man in their home. “That’s what a lot of fathers can’t deal with,” he says.

The singer, whose interview was filmed for the website dads-space.com, which has received funding from Balls’s Parent Know How programme, has long had links to the government. He lent his Florida mansion to the former prime minister Tony Blair after noticing he looked “haggard” following the invasion of Iraq.

The interview with Lineker, who has four sons with his ex-wife, Michelle, is expected to take place this summer.

The Parent Know How programme includes a series of schemes to help parents, many directed at fathers. They include text messages advising on education, online help for fathers through mediums such as football websites, and online computer games that separated fathers can play remotely with their children.

Research from the website Netmums.com has found that 40% of fathers believe they have suffered a form of postnatal depression and 52% feel frustrated by the lack of personal time caused by nappy changing and other parental chores.

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