PARENTS-OF-22 Sue and Noel Radford have revealed their latest ‘exciting’ project – and it’s set to keep them very ‘busy’.
After a snowy weekend away in their £40k motorhome, Sue, 49, and Noel, 54, who previously opened up on “feeling the pinch” financially, are now cracking on with work.
The Radfords, who recently appeared on This Morning, are filming the audio version of their book[/caption]
Sue and Noel told their life story in their best-selling book[/caption]
The parents of Britain’s Biggest Family recently celebrated their daughter Millie’s wedding to boyfriend Harley Passmore and saw the arrival of their latest grandchild, Katie Radford’s son Ronnie Hudson Carter, but as of today, they have started a major project that fans can expect to see in a month’s time.
The couple, who are from Morecambe, Lancashire, and star in Channel 5’s 22 Kids and Counting, took to their social media to announce the news.
After telling their life story in their book The Radfords: Making Life Count, back in 2024, the couple are now recording an audio version.
Posting to their Instagram stories, Sue gave her fans a close-up look behind-the-scenes as she and Noel sat in a recording studio.
The family’s matriarch then said: “Well, as you can probably tell, we’re somewhere very different today.
“Today, we are doing the audio version of our book.”
As Sue gave her 539,000 followers a look inside the recording studio, she continued: “So yeah, we’re doing that today.
“I think it’s going to be available in February time.
“But the paperback is coming out in February time as well, so very exciting.”
Sue then switched the camera to show Noel, who owns his own pie business, The Radford’s Pie Company, as she added: “Noel is just reading through his.”
But it appears that the couple’s book, which previously hit number two on the Sunday Times bestseller list, is mainly told by Sue, who had her first child at the age of 14, when Noel was 18.
Sue, who tied the knot when she was 17 and Noel was 21, also explained: “I’ve just looked through and quite a lot of it looks like it’s me at the minute, but anyway.
How many people are in the Radford family?
Sue and Noel Radford have 22 children and 11 grandchildren.
- Noel – 54
- Sue – 49
- Chris – 35 (married to Nicole Spencer and have three children: Maisie, seven, Jacob, five and Oaklyn, three)
- Sophie – 31 (married to Joe Bradley and have three children: Daisy, 12, Ayprill, 10 and Leo, nine)
- Chloe – 29 (dating Jake Wallace and have one child: Mila, two, and pregnant with baby number two)
- Jack – 27
- Daniel – 25
- Luke – 24
- Millie – 23 (married to Harley Passmore and have three children: Ophelia, four, Chester two, and Elodie, 16 months)
- Katie – 22 (dating Connor Carter and have baby Ronnie, three months old)
- James – 21
- Ellie – 19
- Aimee – 18
- Josh – 17
- Max – 16
- Tillie – 14
- Oscar – 13
- Casper – 12
- Hallie – nine
- Phoebe – eight
- Archie – seven
- Bonnie – six
- Heidie – four
Number of family members and ages are correct as of January 2025.
“Yeah, so we’ve got a very busy few days recording this. But very exciting.”
Sue, 49, and Noel, 54, are parents to Chris, 35, Sophie, 31, Chloe, 29, Jack, 27, Daniel, 25, Luke, 24, Millie, 23, Katie, 22, James, 21, Ellie, 19, Aimee, 18, Josh, 17, Max, 16, Tillie, 14, Oscar, 13, Casper, 12, Haillie, nine, Phoebe, eight, Archie, seven, Bonnie, six, and Heidi, four.
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.
Sadly the couple’s 17th child Alfie was still born on July 6, 2014.
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 and are estimated to make £5,000 per episode of their show.
Andy Barr 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.”
Noel and Sue famously don’t rely on benefits for their bumper brood[/caption]
They live off their pie shop, TV show and social media accounts for income[/caption]
