WITH Christmas Day fast approaching, Sue Radford has shared an insight into the reality of catering a Christmas dinner for her bumper brood.
The mother of Britain’s Biggest Family is no stranger to a table full of children, but this December 25th, she’s got 30 mouths to feed – yes, you heard that correctly.
So if you think food shopping and cooking for a family of four is already a battle, you’ll need to think again.
On a recent episode of the Radford’s hit TV show, 22 Kids & Counting, the family’s matriarch took a trip to her local Asda to stock up on supplies, exposing the sheer volume of food needed for her large family.
Not only did Sue buy 60 pigs in blankets, but she also got 3kg of Brussels sprouts too.
As well as this, the 50-year-old packed her trolley full with 7.5kg of potatoes.
Read more on the Radfords
In a short snippet from the latest episode, Sue revealed that she would be hosting Christmas dinner for her entire family, including her and Noel‘s second eldest daughter Chloe, her partner Jake, and their adorable daughter Mila, two.
As she stacked her trolley full of groceries, Sue, who is from Morecambe, Lancashire, said: “We’ve got pigs in blankets, so there’s 60 there.
“We’ve got 3kg of Brussels sprouts.
“I absolutely hate Brussels sprouts, but everybody else loves them.”
Following this, the 22 Kids and Counting star picked up 7.5kg of potatoes and 4kg of carrots.
And of course one bird just wouldn’t be enough, as Sue stocked up on two very large turkeys.
The mum of Britain’s biggest family, who had her first child at the age of 13, then headed to the freezer aisle as she continued: “Think I’ll probably try and get about 60 Yorkshires.”
Where sweet treats are concerned, Sue, who has an estimated net worth of £975,000 and lives a millionaire lifestyle with a £30,000 Range Rover, outdoor cinema and hot tub, picked up one box of Roses and a tub of Quality Street.
And her next admission will come as no surprise, as she acknowledged: “These don’t last five minutes in our house.”
But of course that wasn’t the end of Sue’s huge shop, as she explained: “I’ll get four Christmas puddings – that should be enough to go around.”
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.
As well as this, Sue, who recently showed off a stylish Christmas jumper from Temu, shared: “This chocolate log is for the kids because they’re not keen on Christmas pudding.”
The official Channel 5 clip, which has since been shared on TikTok, has clearly left many open-mouthed, as it has quickly racked up 30,000 views in just 13 hours.
One fan eagerly raced to the comments and gushed: “Love this family.”
But at the same time, another wasn’t too surprised by the huge trolley of food and added: “That’s not a whole lot of shopping for Christmas dinner.”
Following this, the fan questioned: “What about starters?”
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