Joe Swash and Stacey Solomon are usually ‘couple goals’ but it turns out the Loose women star had to whip him into shape after they ‘fought’ for a strange reason
EastEnders icon Joe Swash has admitted he and Stacey Solomon often “fought” for a certain reason – until he was “whipped into shape” by his famous wife.
Joe, a familiar face with an ever busy household of aspirational kids, two dogs, and a dabble of ducks, has gotten savvy with his supper strategies. The dad-of-six has adopted batch cooking to manage feeding the lively bunch while juggling TV commitments and keeping the flame alive with his missus, Stacey.
“It’s difficult bringing kids up,” confesses Joe, aged 43. “There’s no book that tells you the correct way of doing it. You can only do your best.”
Now he’s joining forces with best-seller and time-saving guru Suzanne Mulholland, better known as @thebatchlady on the ‘gram, for a fresh Channel 4 programme Batch From Scratch: Cooking For Less.
Their goal? To show families how to save on time, dosh, and dish duty by whipping up wholesome grub in advance. With Suzanne’s wizardry, Joe dishes out top tips on revolutionising dinners, even though he fesses up to being a bit of a slob before Stacey came along, reports the Mirror.
With their brood—Harry, 17; Zachary, 16; Leighton, 12; Rex, 5; Rose, 3; and two year old Belle—operating with military precision is practically a must. Joe chuckles about Stacey’s efforts to sort him out: “It took Stacey a while to whip me into shape, to be fair,” he claimed.
“It involved a lot of making me go back and tidy up the mess I’d left behind. A lot of, ‘This is how the cupboards are meant to look,’ and ‘I don’t want it to look different to this.'” Initially, Joe resisted Stacey’s march towards orderliness and tidiness at home, but he quickly clicked that chaos would reign supreme without heeding her wisdom.
“I fought it,” says Joe, shaking his head. “I did fight it for quite a long time and then I just thought, ‘I’m just going to go with it.’ Now we’ve got the most organised kitchen in the world.”
Joe has been whipped into domestic shape by Stacey, famed for her show Sort Your Life Out, where she helps folks declutter and spruce up their living spaces.
At 35, Stacey runs a tight ship at home with strict rules on tidiness. Joe confesses, though, that he occasionally throws the system into chaos, leaving him trembling at the thought of cupboard surprises.
“I’m slightly scared of opening cupboards,” he winces. “We’ve got all of our crisps on a tension rod hanging on little pegs. Now, sometimes when I’m in a rush, I’ll just grab one and pull the whole tension rod down. The crisps will go everywhere. I’ll get in a panic where I’m like, ‘Oh my God, where’s Stacey? Right, Rex, make sure mum doesn’t come in…’ Then I’m trying get the tension rod back in quickly. She’s definitely got me whipped into shape.”
Not only is Joe snapping to Stacey’s organising beat, but he’s also taking cues from Suzanne.
Together, they’re spreading their savvy on organising homes to families on their programme. “If someone has got a way of doing it even better, then you should take it on board,” says Joe.
As he faces feeding six kids back at home, he connects deeply with the families they assist. On their mission, Suzanne and Joe teach these households everything from batch cooking cottage pie to chicken curry, leaving them with a 28-day meal plan and a freezer stocked with nutritious, budget-friendly meals.
The meals are also nutritionally balanced and leave the families feeling full. That’s something Joe has benefited from himself after an indulgent Christmas left him with a few pounds to lose.
Joe says, “We are batch cooking at home and it’s working. I’ve lost about half a stone since we were filming.”
Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
