As a much-loved celebrity couple, Joe Swash and Stacey Solomon could probably afford to live a jet-set lifestyle with their six kids.
But the down-to-earth pair had such happy childhoods themselves that they want nothing more than to replicate that happiness for their young family – and rather than jetting here, there and everywhere with the kids in tow, they simply love going on plenty of days out and enjoying the splendour of the British Isles, whatever the weather.
The couple, who have three children together – Rex, aged four, Rose, two, Belle, one – plus Stacey’s two sons from previous relationships, Zachary, 16, and Leighton, nearly 12, and Swash’s son Harry, 16, have just returned from a long weekend away at a Kent caravan park, where Swash says the kids love the clubhouse, the kids’ disco “and all that malarkey”.
“The kids love it down there, and I have such fond memories myself of being down the caravan,” recalls Swash, 42. “It was a chance to explore – mum and dad let me run around the campsite with my pals exploring and having unstructured play. All those memories are so fond for me, so we try to replicate as much of that as possible for our kids.
“Me and Stacey were really blessed – we had a really stable, loving upbringing, and we did some lovely things. We have memories that stayed with us, so we just want to replicate them and make new memories. And it’s so precious this time – they’re not going to be kids forever, so we just try to make as many memories for them as possible.”
Swash is urging other parents to get out and about with their kids whenever possible too, and is supporting the launch of Dairylea Discovery Days, in partnership with Trainline, offering discounted family rail tickets to encourage families get out and discover new places.
Despite the eldest boys being teenagers, Swash says they usually all come on the family days out and mini-breaks. “They love it, they really enjoy it,” he says. “And it’s great for us because some of our kids are getting older, they’re teenagers and they lock themselves away and we never get to see them, but when we go away on these little holidays, whether it’s in a motorhome or to a caravan site, they’re stuck in caravan with us.
“We know it’s not going to last forever, they’re going to be young men soon. So we get that last little bit of time with them, which we love.”
So what sort of places do Swash and 34-year-old Solomon, who presents BBC One’s Sort Your Life Out, like to explore with their brood?
“I love our coastline,” enthuses 42-year-old former Eastenders actor Swash. “We’ve got a great coastline, so we recently went up to the Isle of Skye with the kids, and then we went down to Ben Nevis and to Loch Lomond and down to Loch Ness. We like North Wales, it’s really lovely up there, and the scenery is amazing. We like Sidmouth and down that side because it’s got the Jurassic Coast, and at Sidmouth there’s a little beach where you can buy a hammer and a bucket and you can go and explore for fossils and stuff.
“There’s so many good things to do with the kids that we’re spoiled for choice.”
Despite their busy TV careers, the couple, who got married in 2022, don’t get help to look after the kids, apart from their own parents.
“It’s just as hard – we have six kids, we look after them solely by ourselves, we have help from grandparents. It can be really difficult.
“But we try to make as much effort as possible to take them out as much as we can. I mean, we work really hard so we can spend as much time with our kids as possible. We try to take them out and do things with them, but sometimes it’s not going anywhere – it might be down the park, they love the park, they love long walks. So it could be anything, really.”
He adds: “I’d encourage people to get out and let their kids have a little bit of unstructured play. It can be really difficult – it’s hard times, people are working really hard. So, if you can do little things for the kids it really does help – they’ve just got to do their best.”
Joe Swash is supporting the launch of Dairylea Discovery Days, in partnership with Trainline, offering £10 off a rail ticket booked as a family to encourage families get out and discover something new.
