Millie Radford’s husband in tears on wedding day over ‘heartbreaking’ discovery – as mum-of-22 Sue admits couple ‘clash’
FROM failed dance lessons to lost wedding rings, the lead up to Millie Radford’s five-figure wedding day was incredibly chaotic.
But the chaos didn’t end there, as when the big day finally arrived last November, her new husband Harley Passmore was left in tears after a devastating family feud.
Here, we take a close-up look at the final days before Millie and Harley’s wedding – as well as everything that didn’t go as planned on the actual day.
In tonight’s episode of 22 Kids & A Wedding, the second of the Radford family’s latest series, we saw 23-year-old Millie and her partner Harley prepare to say ‘I Do’.
With lots of stressful things to consider, arguably the biggest nail-biting thing in the lead-up to their big day was whether or not Harley’s mum would be attending.
Whilst Millie had Britain’s Biggest Family on the guest list, Harley shared his concern about whether or not his mother would be able to make it.
Harley opened up: “As a little kid, I always wanted to be around my mum, I’ve always been a mummy’s boy.
“Before my sister and my dad passed away, she’d always do stuff, she was a very loving mum, I guess.”
But the family’s tragic loss had a profound impact on his relationships, as he continued: “When my sister passed away, it obviously hurt her, it’d hurt any parent.
“When she died, I didn’t have that support as much. I felt like I lost my mum as well as my sister.
“Millie doesn’t think she’s gonna come but I’m positive she will come.”
To which Millie recognised: “I’ve got all my family there so I think it is really important Harley has his mum there.”
Harley’s tears
And when the big day finally arrived, whilst 90 guests made their way to watch Millie walk down the aisle – there was a devastating discovery that left Harley in tears – his mother hadn’t made it.
Clearly gutted, he admitted: “I realised my mum wasn’t there when I saw family friends walk in, who she’d actually come with, and she just wasn’t there.
“Before anyone walked down the aisle, I cried that much, it got to me that my mum wasn’t actually there. It was heart-breaking.”
Later in the episode, he shared: “Even though she didn’t come, it’s my special day and obviously it’s Millie’s special day and I don’t want to be sad. Obviously it is sad but I’ll be alright.”
Millie and Harley’s big ‘clash’
But it wasn’t just the guest list that proved problematic for Millie and Harley.
Prior to their big day, Millie, who is Noel and Sue Radford’s third eldest daughter and second of the Radford kids to get married, was faced with an onslaught of unexpected challenges that threatened to derail the whole celebration.
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
Just 72 hours before the wedding, the bickering began between Millie, who was last week slammed by fans as a ‘bridezillla’, and husband-to-be Harley – and even mum-of-22 Sue recognised that the couple do ‘clash’.
The family’s matriarch, Sue, 49, admitted: “There has been quite a bit of bickering about the wedding, I think it’s been quite stressful.
“Sometimes they do clash a bit, it’s been stressful.”
Millie shared: “I love Harley, a lot. But he does do my head in most days.
Me and Millie have been arguing, we’ve been bickering
Harley
“Harley wants it the one way and I want it another way.
“It’s been horrendous, but it’s even more hard work when Harley tries to get involved in it.
“I snap at him because he’s not getting involved but when he does, it’s awful.”
To which Harley confessed: “The preparation has been very, very stressful. Me and Millie have been arguing, we’ve been bickering.”
Missing ring
Not only this, but with less than 24 hours to go until the wedding, Harley took an unexpected phone call from his best man.
Clearly gutted, he then told Millie: My brother-in-law ain’t gonna be able to make it. Absolutely gutted. I was really excited.”
To which their lost wedding ring saga started, as Millie questioned: “Well hang on a minute, who’s got the rings? He’s got the rings.”
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.
Harley then admitted: “I don’t know if he’s actually got them. I’m not sure, I can’t remember what I’ve done with them. Hopefully they’re here.”
Scrambling around the house, Harley swore: “Where the f**k is my ring? S**t.”
Mirror row and vow stress
Luckily Harley found his wedding ring, but peace wasn’t restored – as an argument soon erupted about a mirror.
As Harley showed Millie her new mirror that she would be using to get ready for her big day, Millie screamed: “That’s nowhere near as big as what I thought it was.
“It’s not going on the wall. I’ll show you when we get there, you’re stressing me out.”
To which Harley chimed in: “Oh my god you’re stressing me out.”
And if you thought that was the last of the pre-wedding arguments – think again, as a conversation about their vows soon set them off again.
You can go now because you’re actually stressing me out really badly….F**k off
Millie Radford
Millie explained: “Your first sentence will be ‘I declare I know of no legal reason why Millie Radford may not be joined.’
To which Harley panicked: “I’ll forget that. I won’t remember that.”
Clearly not in the mood, Millie snapped: “There’s loads more yet. Tough s**t.
“You can go now because you’re actually stressing me out really badly….F**k off.”
Storm Bert, floods of tears and outfit drama
And fast forward to the big day – there were yet more problems to add to the ever-growing list.
On the day of their wedding, Storm Bert battered the UK, with strong winds and snow hitting their venue – on the wettest day in over four years.
The couple had their special day at Wennington Hall in Lancashire, which sees wedding packages start at a whopping £8,995.
And rather than setting an early alarm, the Radford family were awake much later than planned.
Millie confessed: “We woke up nearly an hour late, so everything was mayhem on the wedding morning.
“It’s actually raining outside and I’ve only just thought – where are we going to get our big family picture? There’s nowhere to take it. I’m a bit stuck.”
Not only did they wake up late for the big day, but Millie’s daughter Elodie was left in floods of tears after coming down with a fever.
Millie snapped: “I’ve got Calpol inside my suitcase, she needs some. I don’t think she’s well.”
The Radford Family's TV history
THE first ever episode of 22 Kids and Counting aired on Channel 5 on 22nd February, 2021.
After the first series – which had just four episodes in it – performed well, Channel 5 commissioned a 10-episode second season, which was broadcast in 2022.
They went on to commission a third series, which included a Christmas special aired in December 2023.
The fourth season began airing in January 2024, but fans were left disappointed when it stopped after six episodes.
Sue and Noel reassured viewers that they were just taking a little break, and the next episode will be airing on 21st July.
You can catch up on all previous episodes of 22 Kids and Counting on My 5, here.
Not only was Elodie under the weather, but mother-of-the-bride Sue also wasn’t feeling on top form.
The family’s matriarch shared: “Yesterday morning when I woke up, I was all shivery and just really didn’t feel great at all.
“This morning, I’ve dosed myself up on Lemsip, I just hope it’s enough to get me through the day.
“I definitely did think I had escaped the illness but everyone else had got, but I thought, this is just typical timing. But you’ve got to just grit your teeth and get on with it.”
And to top things off, with just 25 minutes until the couple were set to say ‘I Do’, Millie and Harley’s one-year-old Chester was faced with an outfit dilemma.
The youngster’s tie arrived much bigger than expected, leaving Harley desperately reaching for the scissors, as he said: “That’s massive. I’m gonna have to cut my little lad’s tie.”
But thankfully, dad-of-22 Noel came to the rescue and explained: “We’ve saved the day – we’ve turned the tie around so the fat end is tucked in his shirt, bless him.”