Parents-of-22 left ‘gutted’ as their long awaited dreams come crashing down & Sue Radford reveals ‘it’s been difficult’
BRITAIN’S Biggest Family are back on our screens and tonight, we saw the Radford clan fight back tears after their long awaited dreams were crushed.
In tonight’s episode, the first of the new Channel 5 series of 22 Kids & Counting, Sue, 49, and Noel Radford’s dream of moving to the countryside was shattered.
After living in their 10-bedroom Morecambe home, in Lancashire, which they bought for £240,000, 20 years ago in 2004 and is known as the ‘millionaire mansion’, in the last series, three months ago, we saw Noel and Sue make a decision that would change all of their lives.
The family’s dreams came true when they had an offer accepted on a beautiful farmhouse, surrounded by fields, promising the country life for the whole family.
Sue explained: “Even from being quite young, I’ve always wanted to live in the country.”
“It will be amazing for the kids. It is everything that we want.”
But in tonight’s episode, the pair were left totally devastated, after Noel received a call from Kirstie, the estate agent.
Whilst Noel, 53, was driving home, Kirstie broke the heartbreaking news, as she explained: “The sellers have just been in touch this morning and there’s been a development.
“This is never an easy call to make.
“Unfortunately it seems that their own house purchase has fallen through, so the chain has collapsed and that means that they’ve taken theirs off the market.”
Fighting back tears, Noel cleared his throat, and admitted: “I’m really p****d off.
“We had our heart set on that house. The kids have all seen it, they’re really excited about it.”
Clearly very worried, he added: “Sue will be absolutely gutted.”
Upon returning home, Noel broke the devastating news to mum-of-22, who was cooking dinner at the time.
Who's who in the Radford family?
The Radfords are Britain's biggest family with 22 children.
Here are the kids from eldest to youngest include:
- Chris – born May 7, 1989
- Sophie – born December 13, 1993
- Chloe – born July 31, 1995
- Jack – born April 9, 1997
- Daniel – born March 3, 1999
- Luke – born October 1, 2000
- Millie Radford – born August 29, 2001
- Katie – born November 14, 2002
- James – born October 17, 2003
- Ellie – born May 6, 2005
- Aimee – born April 21, 2006
- Josh – born July 3, 2007
- Max – born December 11, 2008
- Tillie – born May 2, 2010
- Oscar – born October 22, 2011
- Casper, – born October 3, 2012
- Hallie – born June 3, 2015
- Phoebe – born July 24, 2016
- Archie – born September 18, 2017
- Bonnie – born November 6, 2018
- Heidie – born April 3, 2020
Understandably very upset, Sue, who previously admitted that she does seven hours of cleaning a day, said: “I’m not feeling like I want to talk about it.”
Noel, who first met Sue when she was just seven, then revealed: “It’s taken the wind out of her sails.
How does family-of-22 the Radfords afford to live?
AS Britain’s biggest family, it may come as no surprise that Sue and Noel Radford must have some hefty bills.
Between them, they have a whopping 22 children and seven dogs, which often has some people wonder how they manage their money.
The Radfords support themselves with the proceeds of Noel’s bakery, The Radford Pie Company, which is located near their home.
On their website, it says: “We have owned our own lovely bakery since 1999 which is how we manage to provide for (and feed) our huge and expanding family as well as for the local people of Heysham and Morecambe.”
The family expanded their business to cater to online orders placed across the UK.
The business is a family affair, with Noel at the helm, and some of their children helping out.
The older kids, who are working at least part-time, don’t get a free ride as they’re made to pay a small amount of rent to their parents.
“Us older ones do pay a little bit of board. Granted it’s not a lot but I’m also trying to save up for my own house at the moment.” their daughter Chloe said in a video on the YouTube channel.
Sue added: “We’ve always said if you want to buy somewhere, renting is a bit of dead money, so we’d rather you saved that money up and stayed at home a bit longer.
“I also do believe they should pay board if they are earning. We’ve always been brought up by our parents that we had to pay board.”
Noel and Sue famously don’t rely on benefits for their bumper brood and live off their pie shop for income.
They also revealed they make money from brand partnerships on social media.
The Radford family stars in their own reality TV show 22 Kids and Counting – which has run for four series.
Brand expert Andy Barr believes Noel and Sue have been paid less than £10,000 for each show.
He told the Daily Mail: “The typical fee per episode is going to be in the thousands rather than the tens or hundreds of thousands that people often think is the case with TV shows of this nature.
“If they continue to get commissioned for a fourth or fifth season, then they are going to be able to command a higher fee.”
He estimates that the Radfords make £ 5,000 an episode.
“She feels really down and fed up.”
As a result of the family’s disappointment, the father-of-22 confirmed: “We’ve put the whole thing on hold.”
Opening up about the situation, Sue shared: “We were really gutted we’re not going to get that country life.
“It has been quite difficult.”
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