‘Things got crazy’ Sue Radford reveals how ‘scary’ fan episode at ‘millionaire mansion’ left her desperate for privacy
SUE and Noel Radford have opened up needing to move house after “crazy” encounters with fans showing up at their Morecambe home.
The parents of Britain’s biggest family, who have 22 kids, revealed how people travel hundreds of miles to knock on their door.
Sue, Noel and their kids have racked up hundreds of thousands of fans after starring in their Channel 5 show 22 Kids and Counting since 2021.
Sue and Noel appeared on Loose Women today and told the panellists about their need to relocate.
Guest panellist Olivia Attwood asked the parents: “Did you recently move house? You had to relocate?”
Noel replied: “Yeah we’ve looked at buying a new house so that’s all ongoing, you’ll need to keep watching to see what happens there.”
Olivia continued: “What was the need, more space?”
Noel explained: “Bit more space, more play area for the kids, the main reason was privacy as we were getting people turning up at the house.
“It’s fine, you understand people walk past and take a picture but it was getting too much when they were opening the gate and coming to the door and knocking on the door.”
The dad said they often get fans who have seen the show wanting to bang on the door to say hello.
Sue added: “That was crazy though as they’d come from Scotland.
“They’d gone to the pie shop and Aimee had served them and then they’d come to the house and were stood at the gate.
“But the dogs were all out and I was thinking ‘please don’t open the gate as all the dogs will go out’”.
Sue and Noel are parents to Chris, 34, Sophie, 30, Chloe, 28, Jack, 26, Daniel, 24, Luke, 23, Millie, 22, Katie, 21, James, 20, Ellie, 18, Aimee, 17, Josh, 16, Max, 15, Tillie, 13, Oscar, 12, Casper, 11, Hallie, eight, Phoebe, seven, Archie, six, Bonnie, five and Heidie, three.
Sadly the couple’s 17th child Alfie was still born on July 6, 2014.
The family famously doesn’t rely on benefits and is supported by their pie shop business.
The Radfords, who live in a 10-bed former care home, often show off their millionaire lifestyle on Instagram.
In a clip from the latest season of their show, Sue caught some nosey neighbours taking photos of their vehicles.
Peering out the window, Sue said: “She’s taking pictures of my car and she’s taking pictures of my motorhome.
“People turning up at the house has definitely become a regular occurrence.
“They’ll start taking pictures. Then the front gate will open and they’ll start walking up the footpath.”
Noel then chimed in: “And that is where we draw the line.”
Sue explained: “I’m more than happy to meet people out and about, but I think when it’s your house, it’s just not ok. There’s definitely a line we draw with privacy, I think we have to.
“When they open the gate and knock on the door, that’s a line you don’t cross.”
These concerns led to a big decision for the family, as Noel revealed: “I think this has gone too far.
“We don’t think we can live here anymore, so we’ve decided to make another attempt to move house.”
Two years ago the family dreamed of converting a derelict barn into a home fit for their bumper brood, when the huge costs involved and the low sale price of their own house meant a low bid that fell short.
But now, boosted by the improved family finances, they’re in a much better position and found their dream house in a recent episode.
However, it caused some drama as they can’t fit all of their kids inside the new seven-bedroom pad.
With more children than bedrooms, Noel explained: “Obviously the garage is going to have to be converted. But I don’t think we’ll find anything better than this.”
The couple then got set on planning which child would have which room, but they’d quickly used up all the rooms and were left with five children.
In order to accommodate everyone, they would need to convert the garage and have an extension.
But adding the new extension would spoil the character of the house and not long later, the costs came back at nearly twice as much as what they had budgeted.
Under the threat of eviction were the five oldest kids – Jack, 26, Daniel, 24, Luke, 23, Katie, 21, and James, 20.
Clearly stressed, Sue explained: “We’ve brought so many children home to this house. It’s where we’ve brought our family up for the last 19 years.
“It holds a lot of lovely memories. We’ve been here for so long. It’s a part of us.
“We’ve had all of the family together and now we’re buying this house and it’s not big enough for everybody.
“One child leaving home is emotional enough, but having five children leave home is something that I’ve never had to deal with before.
“It’s such a big thing to do. We are splitting up the family. Are we doing the right thing?”
With temperatures rising, at the end of the episode, after a lot of deliberation, Sue and Noel gathered the children in the front room, as they revealed their decision.
Sue told the kids: “This journey started off with me and dad falling in love with this house, but we can’t fit everyone in. There’s too many of you.”
Noel then chimed in: “We looked at each of you and thought, ‘can they look after themselves?’. ‘No’ was the answer, some of you probably can’t, but do you know what, you’re going to have to start.
“So you five, you won’t be coming with us.”
Tensions were high, but soon after, Sue explained the decision that would change everything, as she explained: “The thought of you going your separate ways was just too much for me to bear. I’ve realised that as much as I really want the house, I want my family more.
“We want you guys to stay here and rent it from us. Then you’ve still got somewhere to live.”
The decision would mean that Sue, Noel and the younger children would still be able to move into their dream home, whilst the older children would stay in the family home, learning to budget and live independently.
Noel then shared: “You’re going to have to start paying for your own gas, your own electric, your own shopping.”
Whilst Sue chimed in: “It’s been the worst time seeing the family fall apart, but this is the perfect solution.
“We get to move and they get some independence, and I get to pop round for some hugs.”
