Stacey Solomon has offered a candid insight into her marriage with Joe Swash, explaining that their contrasting approaches to organisation often create a lively dynamic at their Essex home, Pickle Cottage.
A Tale of Two Mindsets
Speaking on the podcast with Sort Your Life Out colleague Dilly Carter, the TV presenter and decluttering expert admitted that while she thrives on order, her husband Joe Swash operates differently. 'Joe's brain works totally differently to mine,' she revealed. 'He actually needs a bit of chaos. I like things organised. And just because that helps me to navigate through my life, that doesn't mean that is the right way to live.'
The couple, who have a blended family of six children aged seven to 18, face daily challenges in maintaining a tidy household. Stacey noted that her 13-year-old son Leighton is 'fighting me for that trophy' of being the most organised, while her eldest, Zachary, 18, rivals Joe for the title of messiest. 'Between an 18-year-old teenager and a 45-year-old man with ADHD, it's not easy,' she added.
Pickle Cottage: A Dream Realised
Stacey explained that keeping their mansion immaculate is deeply personal. 'He's from Islington, I'm from Dagenham,' she said. 'I know they say you grow up and you dream of these kind of things, but Pickle Cottage wasn't a dream for us growing up, because I didn't even know houses like that existed.' She expressed pride in every corner of their home, which she never imagined owning.
Despite her organisational skills, Stacey confessed to being a sentimental hoarder. She preserves her children's baby teeth in a single large box, explaining, 'I had so many kids, I was like, I can't just have like five teeth boxes, can I? I'm going to have to make one big teeth box.' She continues the tradition of leaving a coin under pillows when a tooth is lost, though sometimes uses a Euro if she lacks the correct change.
Unusual Keepsakes
The tooth collection is not the strangest item in Pickle Cottage. Stacey revealed a photo of Joe naked while paddle-boarding in Australia, a reenactment of a viral Orlando Bloom image. A fan later photoshopped a pickle over Joe's modesty, and Stacey kept the picture. 'It was so lovely and thoughtful of this fan that I thought, I can't throw it away. So I've just kept it for 10 years,' she said.
Stacey also addressed rumours of a split, shutting down speculation about divorce. The couple's home, named after her affectionate nickname for her children, remains a hub of controlled chaos.
