Stacey Solomon, 35, speaks out after ‘tone-deaf’ BBC Stacey and Joe series sparks ‘licence fee’ row: ‘Been a whirlwind!’
TV personality Stacey Solomon has taken to social media following the broadcast of the episode of her new reality TV series, Stacey and Joe.
In the series, the Loose Women star and her husband, Joe Swash, have allowed the cameras into their home to provide an intimate peek inside their lives.
Solomon and Swash are joined by their young children, Rex, five, Rose, three, and two-year-old Belle, in the fly-on-the-wall series
Swash’s teenage son Harry from a previous relationship will also appear in the series, as do Solomon’s older sons Zachary and Leighton.
In the show’s premiere, fans were treated to an all-access peek at the husband-and-wife duo’s second wedding anniversary.
There were also clashes between Solomon and her kids over the allocation of chores, including a foul-mouthed exchange with her eldest son, Zachary.
Elsewhere, Solomon learned of her National Television Award nomination for Sort Your Life Out, and the family geared up for a holiday in Turkey.
While there are still five more episodes to go in the six-part series, it seemed some viewers weren’t particularly on board with how the premiere played out.
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So much so, the BBC came under fire from disgruntled licence fee payers over, what they branded, a “pointless” and “trash” reality series.
On X, one viewer harshly put: “#Staceyandjoe I’m so pleased the BBC made cuts to local radio and important news programmes so they can afford a pointless ‘reality’ TV show with Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash. #bbc It’s all about priorities, guys.”
A second echoed: “#staceyandjoe @BBCOne I can’t believe the bbc spent hard earned money on this c***. Refund our TV license. It’s great seeing our license fee is going towards their big house and swimming pool.”
“#staceyandjoe What the f*** am I paying the licence fee for? Certainly not to watch this absolute load of s***,: a third hit out before a fourth also brought up the licence fee: “Why on earth are @BBCOne commissioning this absolute trash. What a colossal waste of public money #staceyandjoe.”
Another also claimed: “I’ll admit to following Stacey’s Instagram & enjoying her page but is this really peak time TV viewing? Not impressed so far… a little tone-deaf.”
There was plenty of defence of the series, though, with one X user wading into the debate: “I’m watching #staceyandjoe you gotta love these two, they are very hard workers, have lovely children and they have oodles of feel good factor and positivity. In this Trump addled world we so need stuff like this.”
And a second hit back at the complaints directly: “Some nasty comments about #staceyandjoe you don’t have to watch yknow!” (sic)
It was the positive feedback that Solomon decided to focus on as she broke social media cover in the hours after Stacey and Joe’s premiere.
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Taking to Instagram, shared a snap of the night sky alongside the caption: “GOODNIGHT everyone…
“And thank you… sitting here trying to reply to all of your stories. They’re so BL**DY lovely.
“Let’s catch up in the morning. It’s been a whirlwind tonight. Love you guys,” Solomon signed off, followed by a love heart emoji. (sic)
Speaking ahead of the show’s premiere, Solomon and Swash both discussed what they hoped would appeal to viewers in the show and the one thing they were keen not to do.
“We don’t want to glamourise anything,” Swash told the BBC. “Our biggest discussions at the beginning of this were, ‘How much are people going to want to watch us take the kids to school and change nappies?’ Our lives are not that exciting.”
Solomon added that, ultimately, they are just a normal family “doing our best in every aspect of our lives”
“So in the end, you sort of relax with that, and you think, ‘Oh well, so they saw us get the hump with each other, or they saw us do something wrong’.
“That is probably the best thing we could show the world, because everything isn’t perfect,” Solomon said.