22 Kids and Counting fans rage ‘won’t be watching again’ as they slam ‘staged’ Sue and Noel Radford scenes
22 Kids and Counting star Sue Radford revealed devastating news about her close friend’s early onset dementia diagnosis – but fans were left furious with the “staged” scenes.
The mother-of-22 shared her 49-year-old friend had been diagnosed with the condition, a revelation came after her husband Noel noticed her unusually secretive behaviour.
The dramatic moment unfolded during last night’s instalment of the popular family show, as Noel confronted his wife after discovering a concerning leaflet in their family van.
Throughout the episode, Noel grew increasingly worried about Sue’s unusual silence and secretive behaviour about her whereabouts.
His concern led him to reach out to Sue’s mother and enlist their daughters’ help to locate her, and reached a turning point when Noel discovered a leaflet about early dementia in their family van.
Determined to understand what was troubling his wife, Noel confronted Sue at their home, asking directly: “What’s been going on?”
In an emotional moment, Sue revealed the leaflet wasn’t about her, but rather her close friend and explained to Noel that she had been keeping the diagnosis private at her friend’s request, as the friend hadn’t yet informed her own family.
“I’m sorry, it’s been awful! But now she’s told her family, I can tell you, so… she’s got early onset dementia,” Sue confessed to her husband.
Speaking directly to the camera, Sue shared her thoughts on the sobering diagnosis.
“Gradually her memory will get worse, it’s a reality check, it could happen to anyone and you never know what’s around the corner,” she revealed.
The news had clearly affected Sue deeply, with the reality TV star admitting it had “knocked her for six”.
However, whilst some fans were left feeling sorry for Sue and her friend, others were left annoyed with the way the scenes had been “set up” and refused to continue watching the series anymore.
Taking to X, one person criticised: “What a load of rubbish. Honestly #22KIDSANDCOUNTING.”
“More scripted b*****ks. Let’s guess, she thinks she has dementia but it turns out to be the menopause? #22kidsandcounting,” another added.
A third penned: “The fact he had a fucking grin on his face while saying it’s devastating news… fucking shit acting #22kidsandcounting.”
Another fan slammed on Instagram: “I thought this episode was very much staged for the cameras and not natural like previous episodes and think Sue could have told noel and he wouldn’t have said anything just so over staged won’t be watching again.”
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Others were quick to defend as one said: “Stop with the negative comments you don’t like the programme don’t watch it simple.”
Someone else wrote: “No one seems to have anything nice to say about the Radfords. Well I do. They work, they talk to their kids, they get on, they’re nice, they’re normal and I think they do a great job. #22kidsandcounting.” (sic)