Solomon

TELLY favourites Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash are set to upgrade their Pickle Cottage home for a sprawling mansion set in 30 acres.

The couple have set their sights on an impressive eight-bedroom Victorian mansion, which is said to be central to DIY influencer Stacey’s next renovation project.

A source said the pair “fell in love” with the Essex property after viewing it as a potential new home for their family of eight.

And the news should help quash rumours that their relationship is on the rocks.

Stacey, 36, will have her work cut out transforming the already-impressive gaff, which costs almost double the £1.3million price of their current home and is more than 7,500 sq ft — complete with a pool and a lake.

Our source said the couple would be sad to leave Pickle Cottage, but are grateful to have the chance to make “new memories” with their brood.

They said: “They viewed the house and fell in love with it. It’s got extra space for the kids.

“Pickle Cottage only has five bedrooms. They have six children and then they need a room for themselves. It gives Stacey a chance to do more of her amazing DIY work as well.

“She has a great eye for interiors. This house needs a bit of love and work to make it the absolute dream home where they can make new memories.”

The family’s current Tudor-style Pickle Cottage, also in Essex, is the setting for their reality TV show, which launched to 4.2million viewers in April last year, with a second series last September.

The BBC has commissioned a third series of the show, despite scrutiny after The Sun’s revelation that the couple’s lavish 2022 wedding was never made legal.

Following the news, Stacey took to social media to tell her six million followers the pair had always been clear it was a “religious ceremony and blessing” in their garden.

She added that the couple plan to get “legally married at a later point”.

Stacey and Joe, 44, have three kids together — Rex, seven, Rose, four, and three-year-old Belle — while Stacey also has teenage sons Zachary, 18, and Leighton, 14, and Joe has son Harry, 19.

In March, after being pictured multiple times with and without her wedding ring, Stacey addressed speculation about “issues going on” in her marriage on ITV’s This Morning.

She told presenter Ben ­Shephard: “There’s a new rumour each week. Have I not been wearing my ring? I probably took it off to go to the toilet or something.”

Stacey and ex-EastEnders star Joe have built lucrative careers on their family image after first meeting on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity show in 2010.

Stacey Solomon and her Sort Your Life Out team left an East Sussex family in tears with a heartfelt tribute to their late grandmother

BBC Sort Your Life Out viewers were moved to tears by a heartwarming tribute to a beloved late family member.

Host Stacey Solomon and her dedicated team descended on a family in East Sussex to help transform their bursting-at-the-seams converted bungalow.

The household was headed up by single mum Nadine, who had called the property home since her teenage years, sharing it with her own mother.

Having brought up her four daughters there while also caring for her late mum, three generations of the Jamieson women had amassed mountains of DVDs, clothing and fine China for Stacey to work through.

Buried amongst the clutter, she uncovered 106 animal ornaments, 87 board games and over 1,000 pieces of Nadine’s China, reports Kent Live.

Reflecting on the belongings filling her home and how cluttered it had become, Nadine became emotional as she explained: “I’ve lived in this house since 1988 and it’s pretty much still in the condition it was in 1988.”

Her eldest daughter Merle chipped in: “It was a small crowded house but it wasn’t cluttered back then.”

Former NHS nurse Nadine tearfully continued: “Mum was the second parent. She was our rock and she was just our rock and made it so special for the girls.

“She started to need care in the last four years of her life, and I became full time carer. And that’s when I think it started to change.

“I didn’t have the time or energy to focus on the house because I had to focus on so many people.”

She added: “I need to have a home again and start living again.”

She heartbreakingly went on: “It’s a place I don’t want to be in. There’s no joy to come home to because you know what’s surrounding you.”

After the challenge of letting go of 40 years’ worth of possessions and memories, the family were left touched by a special tribute to Nadine’s mum.

Coming back home after Stacey and her team, including guest star Zoe Sugg, worked their magic, they saw a special memory of Nadine’s mum.

Nadine had earlier explained how her mum’s chair held its place of honour in the living room, with her old combs and hairbands still on it.

Instead of having the objects still there, Stacey, having transformed the living room to a brighter, emptier space, decided to embroider Nadine’s mum’s comb and headband and radio onto a little cushion.

She said: “I know how important Nan’s comb and headband and radio were to you, so instead of having them sat precariously on top of the chair, ready to fall at any minute, I thought, we could put it into the pillow, and then you could always look at her favourite things but keep her actual favourite things safe away.”

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” Nadine’s daughter Merle commented. Breaking down into tears as she saw the cushion, she added: “That is too much.”

“It’s making you emotional,” Stacey replied, as Nadine’s daughter Beth also wiped back tears.

After seeing the response the family had to their new home, Stacey shared: “I think that might have been one of my favourite reactions ever.

“Nadine has, for the last 20-something years, just been looking after everyone around her.

“She’s been raising her kids, looking after her mum, putting all of her energy into everybody else.

“And now finally, she can bring some of that energy back to her, and she just deserves this so much.”

Nadine emotionally added: “Dreams come true.”

Sort Your Life Out is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.