Inside The Radford’s lavish EIGHTEEN holidays in 12 months – including a £60K trip, a proposal and a motorhome smash
GOING on holiday when you have kids can be hectic – but that hasn’t stopped mum-of-22 Sue Radford.
She and husband Noel – the parents of Britain’s biggest family – have taken their bumper brood on at least EIGHTEEN holidays in the past 12 months alone.
While they regularly pile their kids into their £40,000 luxury motorhome for UK jaunts, the Radfords love jetting around the world too.
Sue, 49, and Noel, 53, from Morecambe, Lancashire, fund their lavish trips with income from their pie shop business, and they don’t rely on benefits.
But that hasn’t stopped Sue defending their extravagant trips in recent years to Disneyland parks, Lapland, New York, Legoland, Centre Parcs and the Maldives.
Sue previously launched an extraordinary rant at a troll on Instagram after she was accused of using “taxpayer money” to fund the family’s frequent holidays.
And she previously added: “We work hard but we’re not millionaires!
“The nastiness is upsetting though. We just want to be able to give our children the best possible life.”
Here, we take a trip down destination lane and look back at where the Radfords have visited in the last 12 months…
£60K Florida trip
Last summer, the Morecambe residents said goodbye to their northern Lancashire town and jetted off to Florida for three weeks in the August sunshine.
But this is family are no strangers to transatlantic flights; they’ve clocked up thousands (and thousands) of miles to the Sunshine State and enjoyed the Florida sunshine three times between April 2022 and April 2023.
The trip certainly didn’t come cheap with “£18k” flights, a “£10k” villa, tickets to Universal Studios and pocket money for kids.
Sue booked their 20-person villa through the holiday accommodation website Vrbo and said she usually books three months in advance.
Villas that size in Miami in August can cost anywhere from around £20,000 to £100,000.
Their swanky accommodation included a pool, a cinema-size TV screen, a BBQ area, a play area, a minigolf course, a basketball court, as well as bedrooms complete with en-suite waterfall showers.
Surprise Disney proposal
Following a New Year getaway to Disneyland Paris, the Radfords headed back to Florida again in the Easter school holidays.
The trip was special for the Radfords, as daughter Millie, 22, who has three kids of her own, Ophelia, three, Chester, two, and Elodie, seven months old, got engaged.
With the stunning Disney’s Magic Kingdom castle as a backdrop, Millie’s partner, Harley Passmore, got down on one knee and popped the question.
The Radford family's 18 holidays in the past 12 months
- June 2024 – UK mini break in motorhome
- June 2024 – UK mini break in motorhome
- May 2024 – Netherlands half term trip
- May 2024- Scotland in the motorhome
- April 2024 – Florida Disney trip
- March 2024 – UK mini break in motorhome
- February 2024 – UK mini break in motorhome
- February 2024 – Girls trip to Amsterdam
- Jan 2024 – Disneyland Paris
- Dec 2023 – Centre Parcs
- November 2023 – Edinburgh mini break
- November 2023 – Haven caravan park
- October 2023 – Dubai anniversary trip with Noel
- September 2023 – UK mini break in motorhome
- September – UK mini break in motorhome
- August/September – Florida Disney trip
- August – UK mini break in motorhome
- June – Cornwall mini break
Luxury Dubai escape
Last October, Sue left her brood at home to enjoy a glamorous anniversary break in Dubai with husband Noel, and the couple were determined to fit plenty in on the fleeting trip.
Sue swam with horses after a beachside ride and footage they shared from their Dubai break on their YouTube page saw them enjoying a buggy trip in sand dunes.
Who's who in the Radford family?
The Radfords are Britain's biggest family with 22 children.
Here are the kids from eldest to youngest include:
- Chris – born May 7, 1989
- Sophie – born December 13, 1993
- Chloe – born July 31, 1995
- Jack – born April 9, 1997
- Daniel – born March 3, 1999
- Luke – born October 1, 2000
- Millie Radford – born August 29, 2001
- Katie – born November 14, 2002
- James – born October 17, 2003
- Ellie – born May 6, 2005
- Aimee – born April 21, 2006
- Josh – born July 3, 2007
- Max – born December 11, 2008
- Tillie – born May 2, 2010
- Oscar – born October 22, 2011
- Casper, – born October 3, 2012
- Hallie – born June 3, 2015
- Phoebe – born July 24, 2016
- Archie – born September 18, 2017
- Bonnie – born November 6, 2018
- Heidie – born April 3, 2020
Crashing the motorhome
Sue and Noel often take their kids away in their motorhome at weekends and school holidays – and whisked them up to Scotland in May.
However, their holiday park trip got off to a disastrous start as mum-of-22 Sue revealed she was “fuming” with Noel after he crashed into a tap port while parking up.
“I caught the tap on the back end of the camper and scratched it all,” the sheepish dad said.
“That’s quite deep. I’m sure it will rub out and spray up. So it’s not that bad.”
Raging Sue, who first fell pregnant when she was 13, then blasted: “A bit? I’m fuming.
“Not being funny right but people say that women drivers are really bad, I just don’t believe it.
“That’s really annoyed me. It’s bad. Honestly, I don’t get how you’ve done that. I genuinely don’t.”
Ready with a comeback, cheeky Noel told Sue to “pipe down” as he pointed out she never drives the motorhome.
Netherlands break
In May, as the kids were off school during half term, Sue and Noel treated their bumper brood to a trip to The Netherlands.
Posting on social media, the family’s matriarch claimed that her kids had been riding around on bikes, while she enjoyed a glass of wine.
She then gave her followers a look around the caravan site, as she added: “The camping areas were so quiet yesterday morning, then by last night they were full.
“Apparently it’s a bank holiday over here so [that] probably explains it.
“Nothing better than van life.”
Sue and some of her girls also went to the Netherlands in February for a girls break, where the busy mum whipped up some cocktails.
Christmas as Center Parcs
It’s a festive staple to get a snap with Santa before Christmas.
But when you’ve got 22 kids, it can be a struggle to get them all in shot.
That’s the problem the Radford family had when they posed for a picture with the big man when they headed to Center Parcs in December.
Mum Sue took to the family’s Instagram page and said: “I absolutely love Christmas and making magical memories with the kids – this place was just magical!”
The family visited Santa’s Woodland Workshop, played with elves, enjoyed the festive scenery, and chowed down on some delicious meals.
A weekend Christmas break
Edinburgh city break
Also in December, Sue and Noel took their large family on a Christmas trip to Edinburgh.
The busy parents showed their kids enjoying the festive ice rink, with the younger ones using penguin aids to help keep them steady.
After this, the kids tucked into some tasty treats and saw the fun fair rides in the Scottish city.
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.