{"id":31554,"date":"2023-12-11T13:57:39","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T13:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onelidlesseye.com\/?p=31554"},"modified":"2023-12-11T13:57:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T13:57:39","slug":"joe-swash-on-christmas-at-pickle-cottage-with-stacey-solomon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onelidlesseye.com\/celebrity\/joe-swash-on-christmas-at-pickle-cottage-with-stacey-solomon\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Swash on Christmas at Pickle Cottage with Stacey Solomon"},"content":{"rendered":"

With six children, Joe Swash and Stacey Solomon\u2019s home \u2013 aka Pickle Cottage \u2013 is busy at the best of times, but Joe tells OK! <\/b>that it\u2019s on another level during the festive period. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to Christmas this year,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m so lucky because it\u2019s all about kids \u2013 and we\u2019ve got so many!\u201d <\/p>\n

In fact, the former EastEnders star, 41, jokes that the numbers involved mean they no longer receive invites. \u201cI think we\u2019ll 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?\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019ll be at home, and anyone who wants to come and see us will be more than welcome.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Wife Stacey, 34, has become a crafting queen, sharing her homemade decorations with her 5.8 million Instagram fans. And she\u2019s been busy putting special touches around their home. <\/p>\n

\u201cStacey\u2019s been making some crackers and making stars to put on the tree,\u201d says Joe. \u201cShe had me outside cutting down some bits from the Christmas trees in the garden to make a display on the mantelpiece, so she\u2019s always doing something. I lose track sometimes of what she\u2019s doing!\u201d <\/p>\n

He adds, \u201cI only get involved if I\u2019m invited. If I get involved uninvited, then sometimes it gets me in trouble! I\u2019m just there when she needs me.\u201d <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And Joe says the magic of Christmas is well and truly alive this year, especially for their little ones. \u201cThey haven\u2019t stopped banging on about it for the last two months. It\u2019s a really highly anticipated event in our house,\u201d he says. \u201cEvery day Rex is saying, \u2018How many more days until Christmas?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

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\u2019m A Celebrity back in 2010, while Joe was hosting the spin-off series, I\u2019m A Celebrity: Extra Camp. <\/p>\n

Joe, who was crowned King of the Jungle in 2008, reveals that the ITV1 show will always hold a special place in his heart. \u201cI\u2019m A Celebrity is a massive part of my life,\u201d he says. \u201cFrom 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Joe admits he was full of envy when tuning into the latest series \u2013 but only when he had control of the TV remote, that is. <\/p>\n

\u201cI watched in between [YouTube nursery rhyme channel] CoComelon sessions. And Stacey\u2019s really into Downton Abbey, which seems to just go on and on and on,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have to say, I do get a bit jealous when I watch I\u2019m 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

This spring, Joe returned to the jungle for the all-star version, I\u2019m A Celebrity… South Africa \u2013 something he says was a brilliant, but tough experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He continues: \u201cAt 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\u2019m so glad I did it. It was another thing to tick off my box of things to do.\u201d <\/p>\n

Opening up about juggling work commitments with fatherhood, he continues, \u201cIt really is hard to leave the kids for so long. Usually when I work abroad, I can FaceTime and call them, but with [I\u2019m A Celebrity… South Africa] it was very much, your phone has gone and that\u2019s it. <\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Following an eventful year, Joe is looking ahead to 2024 \u2013 and has plenty he\u2019d like to achieve. \u201cI\u2019d really like to stay fit. I\u2019ve not really been consciously down the gym for the last year and a half, so I\u2019d like to get back into my fitness,\u201d he reveals. <\/p>\n

Joe likes to work out with Stacey, and describes it as their rare \u201ctime out\u201d together. He reveals, \u201cWe go to a place called Barry\u2019s every now and then. We try and go maybe once or twice a week.\u201d <\/p>\n

And when it comes to his professional goals, Joe, who recently fronted the BBC documentary Teens In Care, adds, \u201cI really love doing documentaries, so I wouldn\u2019t mind doing more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe was speaking at Tombola\u2019s Critter Challenge event. Play Bug Match now at tombola.co.uk <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n