Sue and Noel Radford reveal the secret to 30 years of marriage and 22 kids & the one thing that is banned before bed
THEY’VE been married for 30 years and have welcomed 22 kids into the world in that time.
Sue and Noel Radford, who are parents to Britain’s biggest family, revealed the secret to having a long-lasting partnership.
To celebrate the impressive milestone, their kids arranged for their parents to enjoy a luxury holiday to the Maldives.
During the bucket list trip, which was filmed as part of their 22 Kids & Counting TV show, the couple shared their relationship secrets.
Sue said: “Tips for a really healthy marriage are, never go to bed on an argument, ever.
“Always support each other.”
Whilst Noel added: “I think the main thing is communication.
“And say yes to your wife to everything and it makes life so much easier.”
Sue then gushed: “I could never, ever, ever imagine myself with anyone but Noel.
“We’re just soulmates.”
Sue and Noel are parents to Chris, 34, Sophie, 29, Chloe, 28, Jack, 26, Daniel, 24, Luke, 22, Millie, 21, Katie, 20, James, 19, Ellie, 18, Aimee, 17, Josh, 16, Max, 14, Tillie, 13, Oscar, 11, Casper, 10, Hallie, eight, Phoebe, seven, Archie, five, Bonnie, four, and Heidie, three.
Sadly the couple’s 17th child Alfie was still born on July 6, 2014.
Sue, 48, and Noel, 52, got hitched when Sue was 17 and say their marriage has never had any serious difficulties, despite the constant stream of children.
Noel underwent a vasectomy during the ninth pregnancy but then had it reversed.
The couple have claimed Heidie is their last baby, after Sue has spent around 6,000 days of her life pregnant.
Sue and Noel had originally planned a romantic meal at home to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.
Sue said: “We’ll have a nice romantic meal here, which by the way, is never really romantic as we’ve always got kids that gatecrash.
“We can’t really go away, could you go imagine?”
Noel: “The house would go to chaos.”
But the kids had other plans and considering Noel and Sue haven’t had a kid-free holiday in 30 years, the youngsters wanted to send mum and dad off on their dream trip abroad.
Casper explained: “Mum and dad, we have made a foolproof plan to celebrate your 30th anniversary.
“This is your chance to go away and have the best holiday you can and to not phone call us and to not worry about us.
“This is your challenge, will you accept it? Well, you’ve got no choice.”
They explained that Chloe would look after Heidi, Jack would clean the bathrooms and Luke would work at the bakery.
Sue noted: “The kids have thought of absolutely everything.”
The couple put their worries aside and listened to the kids instructions to jet away and forget about everything else.
The busy mum said: “I very nearly backed out of going, twice, because we didn’t want to leave the kids.
“Now that we’re on our way it does feel a million miles away, but it’s time to concentrate on ourselves.”
After a long 18-hour journey, the couple finally landed in paradise in the Maldives.
As the couple relaxed in their swimwear, soaking up the sun, as Noel noted: “It’s just paradise.”
Sue agreed: “We’ve got to try really hard to not talk about the kids. Adult conversation only, no kids mentioned.”
The family famously doesn’t rely on benefits and is supported by their pie shop business.
The Radfords, who live in a 10-bed former care home, often show off their millionaire lifestyle on Instagram.