Dad-of-22 Noel Radford reveals aftermath of taking their kids away – as £40k motorhome is the ‘messiest’ it’s ever been
SUE and Noel Radford may have 22 kids, but that doesn’t stop them regularly taking them away for weekends in their £40,000 motorhome.
The couple, who are parents to Britain’s biggest family, now have a slick operation when it comes to cleaning up their motorhome when they arrive back home in Morecambe.
Dad Noel, 53, uploaded a video to their YouTube showing the aftermath of one of their weekends away.
He shared: “To be honest, I think this is probably one of the messiest it’s been since we’ve been away.
“No, it’s quite like… I mean, the kids were in and out all weekend.”
Noel decided to share the work that it takes to clean their motorhome for their next trip.
He added: “As we’re back from our little weekend away, we just thought we would quickly show you how we get the camper ready for the next trip away.
“Basically, how we clean and get it ready.
“First thing we do when we get back is empty the fridge.
“We don’t empty the freezer because there’s never anything in it.
“The dirty washing is normally stored in the shower, isn’t it?
“So as soon as we get back, we just completely empty the motorhome of any clothes we’ve taken away, dirty washing, any food, and drinks that are left over.”
Noel said he and wife Sue, 49, then change all the bedding together and hoover up.
He shared: “We’re going to take these seats off and hoover underneath because there are crisps and things falling down there.”
He then joked that Sue gets the “best job” of cleaning the bathroom, and shared: “Sue washes that down purely because it’s only fair I get the toilet emptied while we’re away.”
Inspecting the kitchen, Noel shared: “Any dry goods like that, we will leave in the van for next time.
“Obviously, we don’t leave them here for months on end, but we do quite often just leave them in
“Because then it saves us getting them next time.”
The busy dad said him and Sue used to hide food around the campervan, but the kids have caught wind of the hiding places.
He joked: “I think the kids have sussed it out.
“They know every nook and cranny, and anything we might hide, it’s gone.”
Noel admitted he was initially on the fence about buying their swanky motorhome, but now loves their weekends away.
He continued: “They absolutely love the weekends. I got to admit, I was a bit like, ‘oh, do we get one, do we not get one?’
“I was a bit dubious whether we get a motorhome in the very first place, but you know what?
“They really are some of the best weekends away, aren’t they? They love it. Absolutely. “Unless it’s chucking it down, then it gets a bit boring and annoying for everybody.
“But if it’s a nice sunny weekend, they really do have the best weekends.
“You just go out and play. Myself and Sue are just left, and we can just properly chill, can’t we?
“Yeah, it’s nice, isn’t it? Whereas at home, it’s completely different, isn’t it?
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.
“A weekend, they’re in and out, and maybe getting bored, they want something to do.
“So just for what it costs to go away for the weekend, it’s a cheap do. I
“I honestly do think this is the best thing.”
Noel shared how it takes no longer than one hour to tidy away the motorhome after their trip so that it is ready to go again.
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 last weekend they 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’.
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