The Radford family shot to fame on their Channel 5 hit reality show and during the latest episode, it was revealed some of their children are preparing to fly the nest
The Radford family, known for their Channel 5 reality show 22 Kids and Counting, experienced an emotional episode as three members prepared to leave the family home.
One of them, Daniel, is considering starting a new life in Australia. In the episode aired on 3rd August, father Noel attempted to encourage Daniel to take the leap and move out.
Daniel, 26, had previously expressed his intention to relocate to Australia after securing employment there, but he has been grappling with a fear of driving following a car accident two years ago.
Leaving home is a significant transition for any young person, and it seems even more so for Daniel, who appears to be having second thoughts about leaving his 21 siblings behind, reports the Mirror.
However, Noel is eager for his son to gain independence and has offered to purchase him a one-way first-class ticket.
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Despite his father’s enticing offer, Daniel’s plans to emigrate don’t seem to be materialising in the near future. He stated: “I’d definitely like to move out at some point.”
Noel, however, is beginning to lose hope, saying: “It won’t happen. So far, he’s decided to go, changed his mind. He bought a ticket and then changed his mind again.”
Sue confessed: “An empty nest is something I’m definitely not something I’m looking forward to.”
Noel, however, seems to have a different perspective as he interjected: “I’ll be opening the door to let them out and you’ll be there trying to shut the door to keep them back.”
Including Katie, only five have left home and with Daniel being the next likely to depart, he’s not the only one planning to move out as his two other siblings also revealed their intentions to leave.
Noel continued: “The kids are still at home, all the old ones because it’s easy. The cooking is done, the cleaning is done, the washing is done. It’s 24 hour care.”
However, mum Sue does concur as she expressed: “I do feel like they are still here because they just genuinely do love having all their siblings around and having a big family.”
While enjoying a family barbecue in the garden, Chloe admitted that leaving the family isn’t straightforward as she confessed: “I missed home when I was in Plymouth, I guess there are a lot of people to miss.”
Meanwhile, Sophie shared: “It took me, I would say a good year to start getting used to it.” Noel chimed in: “You pretty much came home everyday to see mum.”
Sophie responded: “Yeah, I was really homesick. I was texting dad every day ‘right, pick me up, I want to come home’.”
She went on: “Joe would text me like ‘what are you doing after?’ and I’d be like ‘oh, I’ve just come home for a bit’ and he’d say ‘that’s not your home anymore’.”
In a poignant moment, Sue struggled to hold back tears as she revealed: “I do love having them here. An empty nest is definitely not something that I’m looking forward to.”
You can catch-up on 22 Kids and Counting on Channel 5