Inside the scandals of Britain’s biggest brood The Radfords… ‘distasteful’ dementia scare, teen pregnancy & ‘using kids’
EVERY household has its fiery moments – but when you have 22 Kids & Counting, the potential for scandals is multiplied even more.
Sue and Noel Radford, the matriarch and patriarch of Britain’s biggest family, may draw in thousands of fans with their wholesome antics and lavish trips.
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But the Radfords are also not immune to social media criticism, following a range of drama over the years – and more recently.
Earlier this month, in April, mum-of-22 Sue came under fire after she was seen enjoying a lavish £52k trip to Florida – whilst leaving heavily pregnant daughter Chloe, 29, back in Morecambe.
The blonde beauty who is already mother to adorable daughter Mila, two, with security guard boyfriend Jacob Wallace, gave birth earlier this week.
Critics came after Sue who had already missed the birth of her 13th grandchild last year while enjoying a holiday in Dubai.
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Katie Radford, 22 – the eighth eldest of Britain’s largest family – gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Ronnie Hudson Carter, back in October 2024.
Despite the mum-to-be wanting Sue, then 49, to be present for the birth, a booking blunder from Noel meant parents of the brood ended up missing the arrival of Ronnie – much to Sue’s disappointment.
After sharing a series of holiday snaps on the family’s Instagram account, Sue was met with a barrage of abuse.
One critic said: ”Can’t believe you’ve gone away so close to Chloe’s due date after the drama when Noel booked you to go away close to Millie’s due date.”
But this is not the first time the bumper brood has come under fire, leaving Instagram fans and TV viewers furious.
From a ”distasteful” act tricking fans into thinking Sue’s battling ”dementia” to ”using kids”, here we take a look at some of the biggest scandals the Radfords have weathered throughout the years.
False earth-shattering diagnosis
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Back in January 2025, Sue was brutally criticised over a ”distasteful” episode which ”falsely lead viewers to believe she has dementia at 49”.
Mum-of-22 revealed the earth-shattering diagnosis on 22 Kids and Counting after she was seen behaving unusually quiet and not like herself.
The first part of the episode showed the now 50-year-old and her husband, Noel, 54, becoming more distant as the typically outgoing mum-of-22 became more withdrawn.
The pie whizz, naturally, was seen growing increasingly worried about his wife, whom he got married to in 1992.
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After Noel accidentally stumbled across a leaflet for dementia in the family vehicle he feared the worst – but the latter part of the episode then revealed it wasn’t the matriarch whose life had been turned upside down.
Channel 5 viewers slammed the episode as ”distasteful” that ”set up” fans of the mega brood to believe Sue had a life-changing illness.
A second said: ”Distasteful ….wanting to make people think Sue had dementia. Scripts need looking into.”
”Wow the show is really setting this up as though Sue has dementia. She doesn’t. A family friend has early onset dementia,” a third lamented.
Another wrote: ”If it’s not all scripted then I think she’s out of order not just telling him she’s fine and it’s someone else. Poor guy must’ve been so worried! Have gone off her!”
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.
Teen pregnancy
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In their joint tell-all book The Radfords: Making Life Count, published in February 2024, Noel addressed the controversy over his and Sue’s respective ages at the time of their first pregnancy.
As revealed on their TV show, Sue had only just turned 13 when she gave birth to their eldest child Chris, now in his late 30s. Nearly five years her senior, Noel was 17.
Sue, who turned 50 this year, was three years below the age of the consent at the time, but Noel has revealed there was “no knock on the door” from authorities regarding her pregnancy.
Back in 1989, and as the law is today, it is an offence for anyone to have any sexual activity with a person under the age of 16.
However, the Crown Prosecution Service doesn’t always pursue prosecutions against teenagers in these circumstances.
It is still illegal for a person aged 18 or over to have any sexual activity with a person younger than 16.
Hitting back at the criticism the loved-up pair faced, Noel defended their decision to start a family at such a young age.
“We were both kids,” he penned. “It was not as if I was 10 or 15 years older than Sue.
“For a lot of people, though, things are just black and white and you are tarnished with the same brush as other people in totally different situations.
“We were young and we were daft.
“But we wanted to continue as a couple,” he wrote in the book that hit number 2 on Sunday Times bestseller list.
‘Using kids’ to cash in
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As Britain’s biggest brood, it may come as no surprise that Sue and Noel have some hefty bills and expenses to cover – especially if they want to enjoy lavish trips (a whopping 18 in 2024 alone) as often as they do.
The bumper brood famously don’t rely on benefits, with a big chunk of their earnings coming from dad Noel’s pie business, as well as brand partnerships on social media.
They do receive child benefits, but no other government help.
However, the couple came under fire for ”using their kids” to rake in extra cash to fund their lifestyle in 2024.
The pair regularly share vlogs documenting their family life at home, and took to YouTube to post a video of their trip to IKEA.
After the clips from their shopping haul, Noel and Sue sat down with five-year-old daughter Bonnie on the sofa to demonstrate the tutoring app they’ve been using for their kids.
At the bottom of the video, a line also flashed up saying: “Use the link in our description box for 30-day money back guarantee and afterwards 60% off.”
Sadly for the two, the decision to include the tot in the video plug of the app didn’t go down too well with everyone.
“Selling products using the kids,” one person raged in a remark that’s since been deleted from the comments section.
How many people are in the Radford family?
Sue and Noel Radford have 22 children and 11 grandchildren.
- Noel – Born December 24, 1970
- Sue – Born March 22, 1975
- Chris – Born May 7, 1989 – married to Nicole Spencer and have three children: Maisie (June 3, 2017), Jacob (July 31, 2019), and Oaklyn, September 21, 2021). He is a stepdad to Nicole’s four kids
- Sophie – Born December 13, 1993– married to Joe Broadley and have three children: Daisy (August 27, 2012), Ayprill (October 13, 2014) and Leo, (December 24, 2015)
- Chloe – Born July 31, 1995– dating Jake Wallace and have one child: Mila (July 23, 2022), and due to have baby number two in 2025
- Jack – Born April 9, 1997
- Daniel – Born March 3, 1999
- Luke – Born October 1, 2000
- Millie – Born August 29, 2001 – married to Harley Passmore and have three children: Ophelia (September 12, 2020), Chester (February 20, 2022), and Elodie (September 19, 2023)
- Katie – Born November 14, 2002 – dating Connor Carter and have baby Ronnie (October 8, 2024)
- 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
- Alfie – Stillborn July 6, 2014
- 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
‘Favourite’ grandchildren feud
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In April 2023, Sue and Noel’s daughter Millie, now 23, sparked rumours of a fiery feud after she appeared to slam her parents on social media.
Mum-of-three Millie, who first became a mum at 19 and is Sue and Noel’s third eldest daughter, accused her mum and dad of making money from their grandchildren – while also alleging that they choose “favourites” to take with them on holidays.
The 23-year-old, who was pregnant with her youngest child, Elodie, at the time, accused her parents of excluding Ophelia and Chester from a family trip to the sunny Florida.
Sharing a screenshot from a clip of her parents surprising some of their grandchildren, Millie reposted it with caption that read: “Cute? But you’ve made money from all your grandchildren, but choose your favourites.”
It wasn’t long until she deleted the furious post, while Sue later pleaded with fans not to speculate over the alleged fallout.
In a message shared under their Facebook video, the mum-of-22 wrote: “Thank you so much for all your comments. The grandkids’ reaction was just so lovely and had us all crying [heart emoji].
”Please could we just not comment on Millie? We are on holiday and don’t want all the drama,” she begged.
On the brink of a bankruptcy
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Sue and Noel may have been together for years, appearing to have a strong marriage on the surface – but that doesn’t mean the two haven’t had their fair share of trials and tribulations.
Back in 2000, there was one particularly frustrating period that almost broke their seemingly strong bond, after Foot and Mouth Disease hit their bakery business hard.
The rapid decline in tourist footfall nearly plunged the bumper brood into bankruptcy.
In their 2024 interview with OK!, Sue recalled: “We almost went bankrupt and thought we would lose the house. I just kept thinking, ‘There’s no way out of this, and I really don’t see how our marriage can survive.”
However, the pair eventually managed to work through the dark days, and onto more prosperous times.
Sue added: “The whole thing took its toll on me and Noel. Looking back now, I can see that we would never, ever have called it a day, but when you’re in that highly pressurised moment, it’s hard to see a way out.”
Professional intervention following a long dispute
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The festive season can be an exceptionally stressful period for any family – and the Radford bumper brood are no exception, having to whip up a mammoth feast.
But Christmas 2023 proved to be a particularly challenging time, with two of the siblings – Chloe, 29, and Luke, 24 – being at war with each other.
As revealed in a festive episode, the two hadn’t been on speaking terms for over a year, with a squabble over a shelf of frozen pastry pies tipping things over the edge.
Luke explained to viewers that, although the longstanding feud had been about a “mix of things”, working together had caused matters to escalate even further.
Luke shared: “Anyways, they [the pies] just took up so much space, and Chloe had set it up that way, and it was early in the morning.
”I’m not a morning person… and it just kicked off. It’s the most pathetic thing, but it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Offering her perspective on the situation, Chloe reflected: “Sibling arguments are different. You definitely hold a grudge more.”
Desperate to see the once-close duo put their differences aside, the parents took a drastic step and invited a trained intervention counsellor into their 10-bedroom family home, in hopes that the row would be put to bed.
Mum Sue confessed: “To see them not speaking has been really, really hard. Especially as when we look back over the years and see how close Luke and Chloe were.
”But they are both very strong-willed and stubborn.”
Noel chimed in: “The longer it goes on, the harder it gets. There has been no backing down first. It’s not nice to see them not talking to each other.”
