With six children, Joe Swash and Stacey Solomon’s home – aka Pickle Cottage – is busy at the best of times, but Joe tells OK! that it’s on another level during the festive period.
“I’m really looking forward to Christmas this year,” he says. “I’m so lucky because it’s all about kids – and we’ve got so many!”
In fact, the former EastEnders star, 41, jokes that the numbers involved mean they no longer receive invites. “I think we’ll go down to see my family on Christmas Eve. Not many people want us on Christmas Day. Who wants two adults and six kids including a baby?” he laughs.
“So we’ll be at home, and anyone who wants to come and see us will be more than welcome.”
Wife Stacey, 34, has become a crafting queen, sharing her homemade decorations with her 5.8 million Instagram fans. And she’s been busy putting special touches around their home.
“Stacey’s been making some crackers and making stars to put on the tree,” says Joe. “She had me outside cutting down some bits from the Christmas trees in the garden to make a display on the mantelpiece, so she’s always doing something. I lose track sometimes of what she’s doing!”
He adds, “I only get involved if I’m invited. If I get involved uninvited, then sometimes it gets me in trouble! I’m just there when she needs me.”
Stacey and Joe are parents to Rex, four, Rose, two, and 10-month-old Belle. Stacey is also mum to sons Zachary, 15, and Leighton, 11, with previous partners, while Joe is dad to 16-year-old son Harry with ex, Emma Sophocleous.
And Joe says the magic of Christmas is well and truly alive this year, especially for their little ones. “They haven’t stopped banging on about it for the last two months. It’s a really highly anticipated event in our house,” he says. “Every day Rex is saying, ‘How many more days until Christmas?’”
The couple tied the knot in July 2022 surrounded by family and friends at their home after six years of dating. They first met when Stacey won I’m A Celebrity back in 2010, while Joe was hosting the spin-off series, I’m A Celebrity: Extra Camp.
Joe, who was crowned King of the Jungle in 2008, reveals that the ITV1 show will always hold a special place in his heart. “I’m A Celebrity is a massive part of my life,” he says. “From leaving EastEnders and not knowing what I was going to do, to going into the jungle, winning it, and spending 10 years on the spin-off show. And I met my wife and we had kids.”
Joe admits he was full of envy when tuning into the latest series – but only when he had control of the TV remote, that is.
“I watched in between [YouTube nursery rhyme channel] CoComelon sessions. And Stacey’s really into Downton Abbey, which seems to just go on and on and on,” he says.
“I have to say, I do get a bit jealous when I watch I’m A Celeb. I get a little bit of FOMO. I miss it. I loved the whole experience of being in the jungle and doing the spin-off show. I do get this sort of yearning that I should be somewhere at this time of year.”
This spring, Joe returned to the jungle for the all-star version, I’m A Celebrity… South Africa – something he says was a brilliant, but tough experience.
“I loved it. You get to a certain age and you feel like all your adventures are over and then suddenly life chucks a curveball at you. It was like a little bit of closure for me too,” he says.
He continues: “At the time, Stacey was six months pregnant, so it was a difficult decision whether to go or not. I got really homesick. But I still loved it and I’m so glad I did it. It was another thing to tick off my box of things to do.”
Opening up about juggling work commitments with fatherhood, he continues, “It really is hard to leave the kids for so long. Usually when I work abroad, I can FaceTime and call them, but with [I’m A Celebrity… South Africa] it was very much, your phone has gone and that’s it.
“I think people sometimes underestimate the power of separation and having no contact. I can be anywhere in the world, but I can always communicate with my family.”
Following an eventful year, Joe is looking ahead to 2024 – and has plenty he’d like to achieve. “I’d really like to stay fit. I’ve not really been consciously down the gym for the last year and a half, so I’d like to get back into my fitness,” he reveals.
Joe likes to work out with Stacey, and describes it as their rare “time out” together. He reveals, “We go to a place called Barry’s every now and then. We try and go maybe once or twice a week.”
And when it comes to his professional goals, Joe, who recently fronted the BBC documentary Teens In Care, adds, “I really love doing documentaries, so I wouldn’t mind doing more.”
Joe was speaking at Tombola’s Critter Challenge event. Play Bug Match now at tombola.co.uk
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