Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash are no strangers to giving fans a window into their busy lives at Pickle Cottage, as their combined eight million Instagram followers know. But the pair took things one step further when they opened the doors to their Essex home for a camera crew to capture the highs and lows of what goes on inside their four walls.
Throughout BBC fly-on-the-wall series Stacey & Joe, the TV couple haven’t shielded any aspect of their home life from the cameras – including their explosive arguments.
Now, we’re told Stacey wants to take things to the next step and go to couples’ therapy.
‘Stacey is desperate for her and Joe to have couples’ therapy,’ a source tells heat. ‘She doesn’t think of it as a bad thing and instead believes it will make their marriage stronger. Joe is refusing at the moment as he’s quite scared of what it will open up. But Stacey thinks it could eliminate some of the arguments at home if they aired their issues on a weekly basis.’
Ahead of the series’ first episode, social media sensation Stacey, 35, admitted that she and Joe, 43, are far from perfect. Despite tying the knot with the former EastEnders star in 2022 after six years together, Stacey revealed on the NewlyWeds podcast that the secret to a happy marriage is ‘fights’.
She told husband-and-wife hosting duo Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo, ‘Always have an argument if there's something on your mind. The worst thing we could do, the thing that splits us apart the most, is building resentment and not saying what we're thinking. As soon as we have it out and say, “I hate this, this is p***ing me off”, that's when you can reset, and be back on the same page again.’
While Joe added that it’s key to ‘embrace the hatred’, Stacey mused that ‘no one's perfect’ and the pair were a ‘work in progress’. She added that it’s ‘hard co-existing with somebody else’ and that it should be normalised that living singularly would be ‘so much easier than co-habitation’.
Stacey – who shares children Rex, five, Rose, three, and two-year-old Belle with Joe, and is also mum to Zach, 17, and Leighton, 12, from previous relationships – revealed on the podcast that they would try couples’ therapy, something she’s an advocate for after ‘trying it all’ herself.
‘I think CBT [Cognitive Behavioural Therapy] is the best thing ever invented. When I did it properly and consistently, it changed so many things about the way I think,’ she said. The mum of five then voiced how things crop up in their relationship that make her think, ‘I should probably go and speak to someone about that’. But, she admitted, ‘Joe is a bit more fearful of therapy. I'm slowly trying to coax him into it.’
Now, a source tells us that while Joe – who admitted he’s ‘not a talker’ – is unsure about hashing out their problems with a professional, Stacey is hoping it will help them with their arguments. ‘Stacey is a huge fan of therapy but Joe is more sceptical and thinks you should only do it when you’re having big issues,’ our source shares. ‘They do wind each other up and Stacey sometimes feels that they argue too much and some of the rows are avoidable.’
Fans have expressed their concern for Stacey and Joe’s relationship as the series has progressed. In the first episode, the former X Factor star was visibly fuming when Joe – who also has a 17-year-old son Harry with ex-fiancée Emma Sophocleous – turned up home five hours late when she had an important work meeting. Then, the next instalment saw Stacey annoyed at Joe for putting bleach in the washing machine, as well as the couple having a very heated argument about him leaving baked beans on the sofa.
The tense times have shocked some viewers. Our source explains, ‘Opening up their home to the TV cameras has been quite surprising for some people, as they haven’t put on any airs and graces. Some have been shocked at how much they argue. They both believe it’s healthy in a relationship, but they want to try and do it less in front of the kids. This is how they live, and they think lots of people can relate to it. They can both be very stubborn and refuse to listen to the other’s point of view and it can cause a lot of tension.’
And this all plays into why Stacey is pushing for counselling, with our source adding, ‘They make each other laugh so much and are completely in love and wouldn’t trade their chaotic family life for anything. Stacey just thinks if Joe opened up to a therapist, life could be slightly easier, and she will continue to work on him.’