Joe Swash and Stacey Solomon attend the 2025 BAFTA Television Awards.

Joe Swash is a busy man.

When he’s not letting cameras into his home to film reality show Stacey & Joe (recently renewed for a second series), he’s filming cooking videos and juggling childcare alongside his wife, TV star and NTA-winner Stacey Solomon.

The pair have six children, as well as two dogs and four ducks, so it’s fair to say there’s a lot going on at their home, Pickle Cottage, in Essex.

Joe, a former Eastenders star turned I’m A Celeb and Dancing On Ice winner, sat down with HuffPost UK to talk all things parenting – and with the children back for the final school term before the summer holidays, the family are now looking ahead to the six-week break and how they’ll be juggling childcare.

“We work really hard throughout the year and then the summer holidays are really important for me, Stace and the kids,” said Joe.

This year they’re planning to go away for two or three weeks to “Turkey or somewhere like that” so they can have a “solid chunk of time together”.

The couple share three children together: Belle, who is two; Rose, three; and Rex, five. Stacey also has two children from previous relationships: Leighton, 12, and Zachary, 17, while Joe has a 17-year-old son, Harry, from a past relationship.

“It’s important for us to spend quality time together,” said the TV personality.

When they’re not travelling, they’re spending time at home and getting the kids out in the garden as much as possible. “We’ve got lots of animals so there are chickens to look after, ducks to look after, the dogs to look after. We’re always out and about,” he said.

“Stacey’s got this amazing veg patch that, constantly, one of the kids is out helping to water.”

Joe added that when he and Stacey are out doing jobs, the children “love helping”. But that’s not to say it’s all work and no play. He’s a big believer in having fun and making mischief as a parent.

“Me and Stacey, as parents, we’re constantly trying to teach our kids things and push them in the right direction,” he said. But he caveated that it’s also “really good to let your hair down sometimes – have a wrestle, get the Jammie Dodgers out [the actor is currently working with the biscuit brand and Nerf], let them play with the water outside.”

As any parent can attest, kids love water – and Joe and Stacey’s brood are no exception. There’s a common bit of parenting advice about “putting them in water or taking them outside” to keep........

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