When BBC bosses announced the return of Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash’s fly-on-the-wall series Stacey & Joe, they did so to great fanfare.
In a press release sent out to the showbusiness industry, the Beeb’s factual department wrote that their much-watched show would follow ‘the warmth, chaos and humour of family life at Pickle Cottage’.
But I can reveal that behind the scenes it was a very different story. In fact, the programme nearly didn’t return after Stacey postponed filming at her Essex home with Joe and their children. She had become ‘fed up’ with the backlash she was getting from her antics as a reality star following her success with decluttering show Sort Your Life Out.
Her strop might go some way towards explaining why this season of Stacey & Joe will consist of only three episodes when it screens later this year, rather than the six in the previous two series.
Back in December, the cameras were booked, the crew was ready and the latest chapter of domestic chaos was primed for broadcast but, as the filming date came and went, the cameras didn’t roll.
Instead, I’m told that production of the series was quietly postponed amid fears that Stacey, one of the BBC’s most prized stars, wanted to step away from the spotlight she once courted so eagerly.
‘It was meant to be in production shortly before Christmas,’ one source tells me. ‘It was all very mysterious, there were genuine worries that it would be dropped. Stacey wasn’t in a good place, she was upset, she was very down and many around her were very worried about her. It was full-on crisis time.’
The drama sent a ripple of panic through the BBC, I’m told. There were also frantic meetings at YMU, Stacey’s talent agent. Sources have suggested the postponing of the show was ‘a contributing factor’ in the decision for Stacey and that agency to go their separate ways a month later.
‘She’s made her fortune but then she seemed to want to step back completely,’ says one industry insider. ‘YMU was in a tailspin.’
You could hardly blame them. With Stacey struggling to cope with the backlash that has accompanied her foray into fly-on-the-wall television, I’m told the mood was fraught. A source close to the star confirmed that she was, indeed, ‘upset’ in the run-up to the filming.
And people familiar with the progress of the production suggest that the series was postponed because tensions at Pickle Cottage, their £1.2million home, have become increasingly difficult to manage behind the cameras.
‘There have been problems between Stacey and Joe,’ says my insider.
It was reported back in May that Stacey regretted signing up to the show because she was concerned about how she and her husband were coming across during their arguments.
It is, of course, difficult to overestimate how hard it must be to live with a camera crew permanently embedded in your family home – particularly with young children and a marriage reportedly under strain.
So perhaps it is no surprise that this series, according to the BBC, will follow ‘the setbacks and humour of a family pulling together to achieve something meaningful’.
This, they say, revolves around the grand opening of Joe’s fishing lake, an event that will give the former EastEnders actor a chance to shine – and give his wife a break.
It will also be the first time the couple have filmed together since it was reported that Stacey and Joe, who held a wedding ceremony at Pickle Cottage in 2022, never made the marriage legally binding.
This led to them being vilified by trolls but, at the time, Stacey said they were planning to register their marriage after the wedding, as their home didn’t have a civil ceremony licence.
‘Stacey hasn’t misled anyone, unlike others,’ says a source, who claims their six kids and a busy schedule got in the way.
But people in the know say that all is not well between Stacey and Joe. In November 2024, the couple were seen having a heated argument at Westcliff-on-Sea train station in Essex during filming for their reality show.
The Daily Mail reported that Joe was spotted storming down the road, puffing on a vape, while Stacey was seen in tears as the bemused camera crew looked on.
‘This is the thing: it’s not as lovely as they make out,’ says a source who knows the couple.
It was later claimed that the pair had just been to a couple’s counselling session to address issues in their marriage, including communication problems and the impact of Joe’s ADHD diagnosis.
Viewers have also been given glimpses of the strains playing out behind closed doors. In one episode of Stacey & Joe, Stacey was left devastated when Joe failed to show up to an important meeting, leaving her to juggle caring for their young children while trying to plan the launch of her own perfume.
Despite Stacey begging him not to let her down beforehand, the EastEnders star was five hours late after going fishing with his friends.
Another episode saw Joe reveal that he feels like a ‘problem’ in Stacey’s ‘perfect’ life.
The timing could scarcely be worse for the BBC, which has heavily backed the 36-year-old presenter as part of its push to appeal to younger audiences.
Today, Stacey and her 44-year-old husband are one of the main double-acts the BBC is pinning its hopes on to help it win the ratings war with ITV.
And its decision to screen Stacey & Joe, which launched in April last year and returned for a second run in September, appeared to pay off handsomely.
Millions have tuned in to watch the pair and their blended family – they have had three children together and three with other partners – at their Essex home.
The show was built on Stacey’s other TV success, her BBC One hit, Sort Your Life Out, now in its fifth run.
But I’m told that is another project now under a cloud, with insiders claiming the future of Sort Your Life Out might be under threat.
‘The BBC floated the possibility of bringing in someone else,’ one source tells me. ‘But Stacey didn’t like that either.’
Yesterday, the final episode of the current series – its sixth – was aired. It is yet to be recommissioned.
‘Stacey has definitely rubbed some people up the wrong way over the years,’ says one former associate. ‘She is very happy to drop people despite them working hard for her. Stacey has been through many PR companies and different agents to get where she is today.’
Stacey gave a glimpse of what she can be like behind the camera earlier this year when she said she felt her team had been ‘robbed’ when Sort Your Life Out was beaten to the Bafta for best Factual Entertainment show by Rob & Rylan’s Grand Tour.
At the time, Stacey justified her behaviour by saying she had spoken out in defence of her team. But some say it was an example of how she can sometimes behave like a ‘diva brat’.
BBC executives were said to be taken aback by the outburst, with one source telling the Daily Mail at the time: ‘There were real fears, it was all very out of character. Stacey is usually so bubbly.’
Another observes: ‘You have to wonder if the gloss had started to come off for Stacey. It would be a disaster for the BBC – they are hanging so much on her.’
