Inside mum-of-22 Sue Radford’s weekend in their £40k motorhome, from movies to the one-pan dish that feeds the family
GETTING away for the weekend when you have kids can be chaotic, but mum-of-22 Sue Radford shared how she managed to do it again.
The Radfords – who have been on at least 18 holidays in the past 12 months – are enjoying a break in their £40,000 campervan.
Sue, 49, who is mum to Britain’s biggest family, shared behind-the-scenes of their break, including the bumper meal she had to cook for her brood.
She showed how they’d cooked chicken, potato, and broccoli pasta for their dinner outside their motorhome.
The kids were also seen playing outside and then curling up for a movie night watching Zootropolis.
Morecambe-based Sue and Noel are parents to Chris, 35, Sophie, 30, Chloe, 28, Jack, 27, Daniel, 25, Luke, 23, Millie, 22, Katie, 21, James, 20, Ellie, 19, Aimee, 18, Josh, 16, Max, 15, Tillie, 14, Oscar, 12, Casper, 11, Hallie, nine, Phoebe, seven, Archie, six, Bonnie, five and Heidie, four.
Sadly the couple’s 17th child Alfie was still born on July 6, 2014.
In May, Sue and her family were lucky enough to go on a trip in their campervan to Scotland, and they also went away to the Netherlands for a half term visit.
But now, they’ve now left their ‘millionaire mansion’ – their 10-bedroom former care home, which spans across four floors and even has a £27,000 swimming pool – for another sunny weekend away in their motorhome.
Back in December last year and into January this year, the family enjoyed a fabulous break to the happiest place on Earth – where they had ‘the best week in Disneyland’.
The family got to meet Disney characters like Mr and Mrs Incredible and enjoyed a breathtaking firework display at the iconic castle.
Following this, in February, they enjoyed their UK mini break for a few days whilst the kids were off school.
But not all of Sue’s followers were pleased, as one outraged fan wrote: “Really, what again! Most people with 1 child cannot afford any sort of holiday & yet you go abroad like 14 times a year & show off about it so much.”
In March, Sue and Noel, 53, took their little ones on an Easter bank holiday camping trip.
Hallie, Phoebe, Bonnie, Heidie, and Archie were seen on a family campsite, on an Easter egg hunt.
In April, they headed back to the States for a trip to Florida.
The family flew with Tui and even did a book signing 40,000 feet up in the air.
When they arrived in Disneyland, they of course enjoyed soaking up the sunshine and visited theme parks, but were slammed by fans for their ‘plastic’ family holiday.
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.
Sue and Noel, who first fell pregnant when Sue was 13, shared their experience with social media trolling in their page-turner, The Radfords: Making Life Count.
According to the couple – who’ve been married for over three decades – cruel trolls love to joke about the family, saying they ”go to Florida more times than I go to the shops’.”
Talking about the hate the family gets, Sue said: ”I think it just boils down to jealousy.
“I have the mindset now – particularly since I lost my dad – that if you can afford to go on a holiday, then go.
”Life is definitely too short to say, ‘Oh, maybe I should squirrel my money away in the bank’ or whatever.
”Life is too short, so just do it.”
She continued: ”If we can afford to take our kids to Florida, then we’ll take our kids to Florida.
“I’m not going to bother myself about what other people say.”
Noel, who runs a successful pie business, also chimed in, hitting back at the trolls.
In his eyes, the dad said, it’s like the family are ”not allowed to do things” unless they ”have permission from the internet trolls” – which is down to one reason.
He explained: ”And it’s as if people think we deserve to be kept in our place – that because we weren’t born into wealth, and because we are ordinary people from an ordinary town in the North West of England, we should just be happy going to Benidorm.”