Stacey Solomon: Teeth and Joe's Pickle

Summary

Podcast Summary: Sort Your Life Out Unpacked

Episode: Stacey Solomon: Teeth and Joe’s Pickle

Host: Dilly Carter
Guest: Stacey Solomon
Release Date: May 26, 2026
Producer: Optomen for iPlayer and BBC Sounds

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Episode Overview

This lively episode of "Sort Your Life Out Unpacked" sees host and tidying expert Dilly Carter sit down with beloved British presenter and personality Stacey Solomon. Together, they unbox three mystery items from Stacey’s home, sparking honest, heartfelt, and hilarious conversations about memory keeping, family chaos, personal growth, and the quirks of domestic life. Along the way, listeners learn why Stacey keeps her children’s baby teeth, the meaning behind her old majorette baton, and the hilarious origins of a risqué canvas print involving her husband, Joe Swash. The conversation is peppered with tips on organization, parenting reflections, and memorable anecdotes about Stacey’s journey from teenage motherhood to co-hosting popular TV shows.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The "Tap to Tidy" Legacy and Real-Life Mess

• Stacey recounts the origins of her “Tap to Tidy” phenomenon:

  “Genuinely, I did it for myself, to give myself a kick up the backside to actually sort my own life out. And then people enjoyed seeing it.” (02:41, Stacey)

• Relatability and empathy as the show’s strengths:

  “I am one of the families. I think that's why I have so much empathy...I've got five kids, I've got chickens, I've got ducks, I've got dogs, I've got Joe Swash.” (03:12, Stacey)

• On why before-and-after tidying pics work:

  “...the before and what they're looking at to start with resembles most people's homes on a daily basis because...there’s so much for people to be thinking about.” (03:36, Stacey)

2. Home Dynamics and Family Chaos

• Stacey describes her home as “high traffic,” likening it to Byker Grove: (04:39)
• Family organization ranking:

  “I'm obviously the most. Actually, I'll tell you something. Leighton was fighting me for that trophy...it's a fight for the most messy between Zach and Joe.” (04:53, Stacey)
  She notes Joe’s need for “a bit of chaos,” highlighting their different organizing styles.

3. The Attachment to Possessions

• Stacey openly admits to being a “secret hoarder”:

  “I find a reason [to keep things]—I’m worse than all of the people who come on our show.” (06:13, Stacey)

• Anecdote about a memorable past participant and her tree trunk:

  “She wouldn't let go of that tree trunk...they chained themselves to it.” (06:29, Dilly)

4. Pickle Cottage Pride

• Stacey reflects on the emotional significance of her home:

  “...when we got Pickle Cottage, we were just like, oh my God. We live in a house like this. Like, when did this happen and how did this happen? And I think I'm proud of every bit of my house.” (06:45, Stacey)

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The Unboxing: Three Mystery Objects

1. Children’s Teeth — “Box of Memories”

[08:03 - 11:03]

• Stacey brings a box containing all her children’s lost baby teeth.
  • She confesses to losing track of whose is whose as the family grew.
  • Dilly recoils at the mix but acknowledges how common this is among parents on the show.
• On memory boxes:

  “My kids love going through their memory boxes. And teeth is one of their favorite things.” (09:12, Stacey)

• Reflection on motherhood and letting go of guilt:

  “I'm great in my 30s. I think after being a parent for 18 years, I am finally in my...I’m smashing this era.” (09:36, Stacey)
  “There’s nothing I would ever do in my life that I thought wasn't in my children’s best interest...You’re just doing the best you can possibly do at that moment.” (11:06, Stacey)

2. The Majorette Baton — “Failing with Family Fun”

[13:34 - 17:59]

• Second item is a large majorette baton from Stacey’s childhood.
  • Dilly mistakes it for a tension rod (her pet hate).
  • Stacey shares memories of childhood majorette competitions with her sister, not being very good, and her family unfailingly supporting her for the experience, not the accolades.
• Why she keeps it:

  “I don't want to throw this away because it reminds me that, you know, you can't be good at everything.” (15:09, Stacey)

• Family support and nostalgia:

  “Everywhere we went...And then you'd wear a leotard and my mum would make us little tutus.” (15:34, Stacey)

• Dilly’s encouragement:

  “Where it started, how it ended...Family honour leads to success.” (17:41-17:53, Dilly)

3. The “Pickle Picture” — “Joe’s Naked Paddleboard Photo”

[19:21 - 25:02]

• Third item is a huge fan-made print of Stacey and Joe on a paddleboard in Australia, replicating the famous Orlando Bloom/Katy Perry photo—Joe is naked, a pickle covering his crotch.
  • The print was gifted by a fan and has been in storage for a decade.
  • Stacey feels guilt at discarding fan art, and admits to keeping almost everything sent by fans.
  • They joke about putting the picture in the guest loo, and Dilly suggests auctioning it for charity.
• On meeting Joe Swash:

  “He remembers everything I said in the interview. He remembers what I looked like...I don’t remember any of it, which is so bizarre to me.” (21:10, Stacey)

• Reflections on relationships:

  “Sometimes I fancy the pants off him...Sometimes I’m like, get out of my stratosphere.” (22:07, Stacey)

• On celebrity and “normal” life:

  “We're not a normal family. We are super privileged. But in every other way, there’s nothing interesting about...We're just gonna go home, clean up, duck poo, and argue with each other about beans on a sofa.” (22:57, Stacey)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Stacey on parenting confidence:

  “I thought I was messing up loads of things when I was raising Zach, and actually, it turns out because I love him so much...He's okay.” (10:55, Stacey)

• On “tooth fairy” economics:

  “A pound for a small one, two pound for a big one.” (12:54, Stacey) “Sometimes it could be a euro because we ain't got no change.” (12:48, Stacey)

• On the “Pickle Picture”:

  “It was so lovely and thoughtful of this fan that I thought, I can't throw it away. So I've just kept it for, like, 10 years.” (20:30, Stacey)

• Dilly’s praise:

  “You have such a lovely aura about you. When you're with you, it feels like you've known you forever… this show has been the best thing that's ever happened to me because I met you.” (23:32-24:00, Dilly)

• On the reality of filming ‘Sort Your Life Out’:

  “We do, because legally, we have to be out in seven days...At the end of that week, it is...Everyone is broken.” (24:04, Stacey)

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Organizational & Life Lessons

• On decluttering sentimental items:

  Stacey decides: “Keep the teeth...donate my baton...recycle the pickle picture.” (25:22-25:56)

• Tips for packing when traveling:
  Stacey uses “roll out” packing organizers for all family outfits, likening it to “rolling out the red carpet.” (05:41-05:59)
• On not feeling guilty as a mum:

  “You’re never gonna do anything perfectly...you just do it to the best of your ability for what you know at that point, and that's that. And then you gotta let it go.” (11:06-11:40, Stacey)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Tap to Tidy & Home Truths: 02:41–06:45
• Unboxing Item 1 (Children’s Teeth): 07:27–11:03
• Motherhood, Mum Guilt, Public Life: 09:36–12:30
• Unboxing Item 2 (Majorette Baton): 13:34–17:59
• Family Support & Childhood Memories: 15:12–15:53
• Unboxing Item 3 (Pickle Picture): 19:21–25:02
• Meeting Joe Swash & Relationship Realities: 21:10–22:57
• Keep, Donate, Sell Decisions: 25:22–25:59
• Stacey’s Happy Place (By the Willow Tree): 26:09–26:34

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Stacey’s Happy Place

Where in your home is your happy place?

“I love being in my garden by the willow tree. Don’t judge me. That sounds really airy fairy hippie.” (26:09, Stacey)

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Conclusion

This episode encapsulates Stacey’s warmth, humor, humility, and relatability as she and Dilly share vulnerable stories and huge laughs. The show delivers practical organizing insights wrapped in genuine reflections on family, identity, and appreciating life’s messiness—literally and figuratively.

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For further episodes, watch on iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds.

Transcript

[Stacey Solomon]

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[Dilly Carter]

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[Stacey Solomon]

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[Dilly Carter]

I'm Dilly Carter, the organized one, and this is Sort yout Life Out Unpacked. Get ready to unpack three boxes with my celebrity guest. Every box has an item from their own home, plus a load of stories and memories. And standby for my tips on how to sort your own life out, too. I feel like my next guest needs no introduction and I don't know why, but I feel so nervous.

[Stacey Solomon]

I hope you give me a really good introduction.

[Dilly Carter]

Anyway, anyway, it's coming. You're not meant to talk yet.

[Stacey Solomon]

Sorry. Oh, my gosh.

[Dilly Carter]

I mean, if you love Sort yout Life out, then there's a good chance that you are gonna love my next guest. She rose to fame on the X Factor and is now, of course, a beloved presenter and has been for years. We've seen her at her home in Pickle Cottage with her husband, Jo Swash, and all their children. It is our very own incredible Stacey Solomon.

[Stacey Solomon]

Thank you. What an introduction, Dilly.

[Dilly Carter]

Well, I mean, you ruined it by talking.

[Stacey Solomon]

I did not ruin it. No one will know it's me just from the Voice.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, no, no one. I mean, it's not the most distinctive voice in the whole of the country.

[Stacey Solomon]

Well, why are you scared? Well, it's only me.

[Dilly Carter]

I know it is only me.

[Stacey Solomon]

We spend six months of the year together.

[Dilly Carter]

I know. Which I love. Every time. Sick of each other lies every single solitary second we have. Filming Sort yout Life out is even my favourite time.

[Stacey Solomon]

Even. I'm in the warehouse.

[Dilly Carter]

Even. Okay? That's the only time I don't love you is my day in the Warehouse. We'll dig deeper into the time that we spend in the warehouse and our time on sort your life out. But before we start all of that, did you ever think Tap to Tidy would be such a legacy?

[Stacey Solomon]

No. You know when you do see something that's an absolute pig of a mess and you think, oh, I'm gonna take a picture of that now and then I'm gonna take a picture after I've sorted it out. And that would motivate me to actually sort that space out. Genuinely, I did it for myself, to give myself a kick up the backside to actually sort my own life out. And then people enjoyed seeing it.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah. That simple. Before and after. And I think that's why the show does well, is because you see these families, which are really normal families that have all gone through different things.

[Stacey Solomon]

Oh, my gosh. I am one of the families. I think that's why I have so much empathy and I definitely don't judge anyone we ever meet is because they are me. Do you know what I mean? I mean, how many times have you come to my house, open a cupboard and be like, oh, my gosh, Stacy, I cannot believe it. I'm always messed. I've got five kids, I've got chickens, I've got ducks, I've got dogs, I've got Joe's Wash.

[Dilly Carter]

Even though all running in and out of that house.

[Stacey Solomon]

I think that the reason people like before and afters the tact tidy, watching somebody clean and not already clean house is because the before and what they're looking at to start with resembles most people's homes on a daily basis because they're working 100 jobs. There's so much for people to be thinking about. That tidying, that cleaning, that organizing comes last on the list.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

So we're all in a bit of a mess, I think.

[Dilly Carter]

Absolutely. I've walked out my house and I think, oh, my gosh, your house, but your car. Now, hold on a minute, hold on. That was one time you got in my car. Not one time.

[Stacey Solomon]

Every time I get in your car, there are croissant crumbs everywhere, Everett. In fact, so much so that you bought a Mini Hoover for your car.

[Dilly Carter]

Right, hold on a minute. Before we start looking at the boxes.

[Stacey Solomon]

Swiftly moving on.

[Dilly Carter]

I cannot wait to see what you bought in, by the way. I can't even imagine what is in those boxes.

[Stacey Solomon]

I can't wait for you to hold it.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, well.

[Stacey Solomon]

Oh, God.

[Dilly Carter]

But first, I'm going to ask you a few quick fire home truths.

[Stacey Solomon]

Go on.

[Dilly Carter]

How would you describe your home in a Sentence.

[Stacey Solomon]

Jo calls it Biker Grove. Did you ever watch that show? Yeah, of course. It's just like kids, I'm 10 years older than you. It's high traffic. High traffic. That's what I call our house.

[Dilly Carter]

Rank the people in your house from most to least organized.

[Stacey Solomon]

Well, I'm obviously the most. Actually, I'll tell you something. Leighton was fighting me for that trophy.

[Dilly Carter]

Is he?

[Stacey Solomon]

Yeah. So my second oldest, Leighton, he is really organized. And then it's a fight for the most messy between Zach and Joe. Between Zach and Joe.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh my God.

[Stacey Solomon]

Between a 18 year old teenager and a 45 year old man with ADHD. It's not easy. And Joe is really funny. Is the opposite to me. So like he actually needs a bit of chaos. I like things organized and because that helps me to navigate through my life, that doesn't mean that is the right way to live.

[Dilly Carter]

No.

[Stacey Solomon]

Joe's brain works totally differently to mine and so sometimes he does need things to be a little bit chaotic.

[Dilly Carter]

So even if you give Joe the structure, he is not.

[Stacey Solomon]

No, that's not how he lives. And he. And if we go on holiday, dilly, I will unpack all the kids clothes. My clothes.

[Dilly Carter]

But all your packing wardrobes, you use all those really clever packing hacks, which I love.

[Stacey Solomon]

I use those things that roll out.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

So I just literally put an outfit a day in these roll up things. Roll them up, put them in the case and they've got a hanger on the end. Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

So I get that.

[Stacey Solomon]

I'm like, you know, like when you roll out the red carpet, that's how I feel. I'm like

[Dilly Carter]

the most genius packing it is ever good. What is something in your house you think you should chuck out? Nothing. Nothing.

[Stacey Solomon]

You know I'm a secret holder.

[Dilly Carter]

I can confirm that. That you do like to keep yourself.

[Stacey Solomon]

You've helped me organize before.

[Dilly Carter]

I know.

[Stacey Solomon]

I've had you around my house multiple times helping me and every time you're like, I think it' one go. I'm like, I find a reason I'm worse than all of the people who come on our sheep.

[Dilly Carter]

You're not worse than them, but you can definitely relate to those people.

[Stacey Solomon]

Do you remember, was it sue who had that tree trunk?

[Dilly Carter]

Was it Sue?

[Stacey Solomon]

She wouldn't let go of that tree trunk.

[Dilly Carter]

No, because they chained themselves to it.

[Stacey Solomon]

That's the one. I was like, did she hug it or did she do something?

[Dilly Carter]

No, they chained themselves to the.

[Stacey Solomon]

Is that. She would not let me put that in the compost heap.

[Dilly Carter]

What about your home Are you most proud of?

[Stacey Solomon]

Oh, my God. Just the fact that I've got home. I remember when me and Joe bought Pickle Cottage. And this is gonna say me shoe. For, like, three weeks every day, we'd walk out of it and just cry because we did not expect to ever grow up and be able to live in a house like that. He's from Islington. I'm from Dagenham. I know they say you grow up and you dream of these kind of things, but Pequot Cottage wasn't a dream for us growing up. Cause I didn't even know houses like that existed. So when we got Pickle Cottage, I just think we were just like, oh, my God. Yeah, we live in a house like this. Like, when did this happen and how did this happen? And I think I'm proud of every bit of my house.

[Dilly Carter]

Let's dig into your first box.

[Stacey Solomon]

Come. And then.

[Dilly Carter]

I'm slightly scared.

[Stacey Solomon]

In this box, I bought you some really good stuff.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, gosh. Okay, okay. So in this box, of course, is a box.

[Stacey Solomon]

A box in a vase.

[Dilly Carter]

In this box is a box. Of course it is.

[Stacey Solomon]

It's a Rhine doll of gifts.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, please. I've got no idea what it's gonna. Oh, get it. Oh, Stacey, get it. Please don't tell me you bought me your children's teeth.

[Stacey Solomon]

How did you get it in one. God.

[Dilly Carter]

She's bought me your children's teeth. You've bought me your.

[Stacey Solomon]

What the hell? Why are you heaving?

[Dilly Carter]

So I am holding your children's teeth.

[Stacey Solomon]

Can I ask first of all, privilege, Eh?

[Dilly Carter]

I don't know if privilege is the word, but I can say this because it's you. I mean, whose teeth are these? Is this a mixture?

[Stacey Solomon]

It's an amalgamation, like, of everyone's teeth. I actually can't remember whose is whose.

[Dilly Carter]

I have got an amalgamation of your children's teeth.

[Stacey Solomon]

You've got at least one of each child is in there, right?

[Dilly Carter]

So.

[Stacey Solomon]

So one of those teeth is, like, 15 years old because they're Zachs.

[Dilly Carter]

The thing is, your teeth aren't even organized. At least have them in a box for Rex. A box for.

[Stacey Solomon]

I did at first, but then I had so many kids, I was like, oh, I can't just have, like, five teeth boxes, can I? I'm gonna have to make one big teeth box.

[Dilly Carter]

I think that's what you need to do on the next sort your life out is make a tooth necklace.

[Stacey Solomon]

I think that'd be quite nice. Or have you seen where they grind down hairs and teeth from people and make them into jewelry. Yeah, that's the thing, you know?

[Dilly Carter]

I mean, we see it, don't we, so much on the show. It is one of those things that does divide people. People do keep teeth. They keep umbilical cords. They keep all sorts of crazy things. Plaster casts.

[Stacey Solomon]

That's how crazy is it?

[Dilly Carter]

What do you think is the weirdest thing that we found on Sort yout Life Out?

[Stacey Solomon]

You're asking the wrong person. I don't think any of this crazy. I think it's all normal.

[Dilly Carter]

Do you ever sit there on your sofa and think, oh, I really want to go and find that box of the kids teet.

[Stacey Solomon]

Look at them? No, but I do get them out for my kids. My kids love going through their memory boxes. And teeth is one of the favorite things. My son is a collector. Sorry, I just got to look at these. Don't you think it's interesting that some of the gum's still there? Don't you think that's good?

[Dilly Carter]

Stop.

[Stacey Solomon]

It hasn't decayed. So healthy gums, I'd say.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, well done for looking after your children. How would you describe yourself as a mum?

[Stacey Solomon]

Patient. Fantastic. I'm old now, so, like, when I was in my 20s, being a mum, I think I always questioned myself and I was like, oh, am I doing the right thing? Am I a good enough mum now? I'm like, I'm great in my 30s. I think after being a parent for 18 years, I am finally in my. I'm smashing this era. Even if they all grow up, which they will, guaranteed, at some stage in your life, say, I hate you, mum, you're still smashing it.

[Dilly Carter]

What changed for you? What made you suddenly think, I'm okay now and I know I'm doing a good job?

[Stacey Solomon]

I don't know. I think you're just insecure. When you're in your 20s, I think you're just more insecure. And also, you gotta remember I had Zach when I was a teenager, So I was 17 when I had him. And that is like peak insecurity age, isn't it? Yeah. You don't particularly like yourself very much. You're finding out who you are in the world. You're learning loads of things. And then my life has changed dramatically throughout the stages of raising Zach, and so have my opinions and so of the way that I do things and I might have done things before that I wouldn't do now, like, so his parent. My parenting with Zach has been all over the place, but he is the nicest, kindest human. He is yeah. And he's got such a great heart. And I thought I was messing up loads of things when I was raising Zach, and actually, it turns out because I love him so much. He knows I love him. It's unwavering. It's always there. He's okay.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

So I think you start going, no, I'm great at this. I'm not going to spend my life beating myself up and worrying if I'm a good mum or not.

[Dilly Carter]

How do you deal with that, Mum? Guilt? Because we all get that.

[Stacey Solomon]

I don't. I don't get it. I don't allow myself to be guilty anymore. There's nothing I would ever do in my life that I thought was. Wasn't in my children's best interest. You know, you can look back and go, oh, maybe I shouldn't have, and maybe I could have handled things better then, but I couldn't have, because everything I did at that time was all that I knew at that time. You're just doing the best that you can possibly do at that moment. So how. Why feel guilty about it? You're never gonna do anything perfectly. No, it's just you just do it to the best of your ability for what you know at that point, and that's that. And then you gotta let it go.

[Dilly Carter]

We put ourselves under so much pressure, don't we, to try and do it

[Stacey Solomon]

all, and so does the world.

[Dilly Carter]

What do you think's been the hardest thing for you growing up in the public eye or dealing with the public and your children?

[Stacey Solomon]

Do you know what? Again, it's a weird one, because I went on the X Factor when I was 19, so I definitely haven't spent any adulthood outside of the public eye,

[Dilly Carter]

which is crazy, isn't it?

[Stacey Solomon]

Which is weird. And so I don't really know. My biggest privilege is my family. So I've got the most supportive family who don't care whether everyone hates me or everyone loves me. They love me. So I've always been able to walk away from the job, go back home and my sister, be like, oh, you're annoying. I actually don't feel in any way famous. I feel like I'm just people's friend. Yeah. So if I go out, you know what it's like. People aren't running. I'm not Harry Styles. They're not running on the street.

[Dilly Carter]

Like, it feels like you are Harry Styles when I'm with you.

[Stacey Solomon]

Listen, people just go, you're right, Stace. I'm like, yeah, you're right. And it feels like they're just me mates.

[Dilly Carter]

With your teeth, do you leave money under the pillow?

[Stacey Solomon]

Yeah, but you know how many times I forget. And they're like, the tooth fairy hasn't come. And I'm like, I'll check again.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah, you've hidden it under there.

[Stacey Solomon]

And it could. Sometimes it could be a euro because we ain't got no change.

[Dilly Carter]

I was just about to say, what's the going rate for a Solomon?

[Stacey Solomon]

A pound for a small one, two pound for a big one.

[Dilly Carter]

Two pound for a big one.

[Stacey Solomon]

What do you give?

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, no. Yeah, that's right. Pound or two pound. Although, whenever Nelly goes to her auntie, she gives her a tenner and I'm like, what are you doing?

[Stacey Solomon]

Wow.

[Dilly Carter]

Why would you do that?

[Stacey Solomon]

I'd keep my teeth hanging in there till I went around me auntie's house. Yeah. By Fred. And then let it go. Or I'd rip them out when I got there.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah. And just leave it. Well, thank you for bringing me your teeth.

[Stacey Solomon]

Anytime.

[Dilly Carter]

I mean, honestly. I mean, I should have known. That's what you bring me. Oh, please don't.

[Stacey Solomon]

A ring.

[Dilly Carter]

What?

[Stacey Solomon]

I love me tooth ring.

[Dilly Carter]

No. Absolutely not. Pass me your second item. Let's see what we got in this big old box.

[Stacey Solomon]

Here you go. Oh, my God.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, it's poking out the top.

[Stacey Solomon]

Do you know what it is? Yes.

[Dilly Carter]

I can see so in this big, huge box.

[Stacey Solomon]

Well, that was the only box you had that could fit in.

[Dilly Carter]

I mean, it looks like a baton. But obviously, as we, you know, many of us know and love Stacy. This is my pet hate about these items. This is a long silver baton that you could think you're doing majorettes with. But no, it is a tension rod.

[Stacey Solomon]

No, it's not a tension rod. It is a majorette spatter. Is it? This is my major.

[Dilly Carter]

I actually thought it was a tension

[Stacey Solomon]

rod, but I was quite a lanky kid. Look how big it is.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, my gosh.

[Stacey Solomon]

I was like one of those. I looked this size when I was

[Dilly Carter]

like, 10, twizzling this.

[Stacey Solomon]

I don't want to break anything.

[Dilly Carter]

This is something I never, ever knew about you. I genuinely thought you'd bought me attention, Rod.

[Stacey Solomon]

I was throwing tassels on the end

[Dilly Carter]

and we were like, tell me about this. I never knew this about you. I genuinely thought that was a tension rod. And then I was going to talk about how much I don't like tension rods.

[Stacey Solomon]

Me and my sister used to do dancing and I couldn't dance. And then we started majorettes and I could just about twirl a baton. But I still couldn't dance.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

And so my mum used to enter us for, like, all the Butlins competitions. You remember those on Pontins at the old holiday. And I was so rubbish that they had to bring medals with them so that I could see something. My sister won all the medals. She was really good. She was so good at everything and really good at dancing and I was terrible. But I don't want to throw this away because it reminds me that, you know, you can't be good at everything.

[Dilly Carter]

And did your family support you going to all of the competitions?

[Stacey Solomon]

Yeah, entered me to everyone. They entered me for every competition. And I don't know if it's just so I could get used to failure or they really wanted to support my dreams. Either way, I had a whale of a time.

[Dilly Carter]

And how old were you when you started it?

[Stacey Solomon]

Probably, like. I probably started when I was like, six or seven. But this went on until my teens.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

Like, quite a long time. I really loved it.

[Dilly Carter]

So did the whole family go with you to every single competition?

[Stacey Solomon]

Everywhere we went.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, I love that.

[Stacey Solomon]

And then you'd wear a leotard and my mum would make us little tutus. I really am not very good. I remember once, right, all I had to do was walk around a square doing the whole, like, stir the spoon thing and I walked straight through the middle of it. That's how bad I was. I couldn't even walk in a square.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, it's.

[Stacey Solomon]

So there's a video of that somewhere, because you know what? Dave's, like, always got his camera.

[Dilly Carter]

Dave is Stacy's dad, for those of you.

[Stacey Solomon]

Yeah, sorry, I call him Dave, but he's always got his camera out. He's a photographer for Jewish weddings and bizarre. And he's always got a camera out. There's videos of us from when we were kids just brushing our teeth. This is the way we brush our teeth. I'm like, dad, why have you got that video? It's like, you know, memories.

[Dilly Carter]

Do you think your mum and dad are super proud of everything you've achieved?

[Stacey Solomon]

Yeah, yeah, I do. I mean, I think a lot. I think a lot of the time we all, like, sit down and have dinner and we just laugh.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

Because how. Yeah, how did I get here? This was not the destiny. I don't think.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

I think a lot of the time we can't believe it. And also, my dad's always just said to me, just do everything, enjoy everything, because it will all come to an end at some point. Or there'll be time when you won't be offered these kind of jobs. So just go out and enjoy it and make the most of it.

[Dilly Carter]

Exactly. That majorette bat you like one. I think that's where your love attention mods did come. Because it looks like one.

[Stacey Solomon]

Do you know what? Maybe I think subconsciously make me feel home. Maybe it's nostalgic for me. Did you do this? You didn't do this as a kid?

[Dilly Carter]

No.

[Stacey Solomon]

I think, oh, come on, you must have done. Every child I go at this.

[Dilly Carter]

I am more uncoordinated than you are. I mean, you're really good at stuff like that.

[Stacey Solomon]

What about just this one?

[Dilly Carter]

Stacey's literally twiddling this. Twiddling. What do we call it? Twirling. Twirling this baton. And she's doing it with such ease and grace. You're very graceful. You're actually, you know, there are so

[Stacey Solomon]

graceful with this than in real life.

[Dilly Carter]

Why have you kept it?

[Stacey Solomon]

I don't know. I don't want to throw it away

[Dilly Carter]

just because it's a nice memory. Where is it? In your house, in the loft, in the memory box.

[Stacey Solomon]

What shall I do? Put it in a cabinet? Put it up on the wall next to all the fake trophi? Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

You've got loads of not got fake trophies for this.

[Stacey Solomon]

What, do you want me to put my blooming NTA next to it?

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah, I think so.

[Stacey Solomon]

I think you should sort your life out.

[Dilly Carter]

Where it started, how it ended and how it ended.

[Stacey Solomon]

There you go. Family honour leads to success.

[Dilly Carter]

Exactly.

[Stacey Solomon]

It's a natural part of progression.

[Dilly Carter]

I mean, do you think your kids have tried that pattern?

[Stacey Solomon]

No, I think if I gave this to my girls at their age now, I'd have no valuables left in the house. It wouldn't be a glass.

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[Stacey Solomon]

Beware.

[Dilly Carter]

Should we have a look at your third item coming then? Third and final item.

[Stacey Solomon]

Hold on. It's behind me.

[Dilly Carter]

What is it?

[Stacey Solomon]

Oh, my gosh.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay. Trust you to bring in items that are so big they don't even fit in the box.

[Stacey Solomon]

I don't want this in my house, but I don't know what.

[Dilly Carter]

Sorry, did you just say you don't want it in your house? I'm closing my eyes. So whatever Stacy is passing me is so big it doesn't fit in the box. My eyes are closed.

[Stacey Solomon]

There you go.

[Dilly Carter]

It's some sort of big card. I'm opening my eyes.

[Stacey Solomon]

Oh, my gosh. Oh, my goodness.

[Dilly Carter]

Look at this. This is a huge picture of you and Joe on a paddle board.

[Stacey Solomon]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Paddle boarding. But Joe is naked.

[Stacey Solomon]

He's fully.

[Dilly Carter]

He's fully naked, but he's got a cucumber or gherkin covering his private parts.

[Stacey Solomon]

So first of all, we were in Australia.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

And do you remember this is how old we are when Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry took that photo?

[Dilly Carter]

Yes. Yes.

[Stacey Solomon]

I was like, joe, we should take that photo. So we did. And we did our own, like, reenactment and then some. A fan blew it up and put a pickle in front of Jo's.

[Dilly Carter]

Is that where Pickle Cottage came from?

[Stacey Solomon]

And sent it to us. Yeah. And I'm like, what am I going to do with this?

[Dilly Carter]

What are you going to do with this?

[Stacey Solomon]

It was so lovely and thoughtful of this fan that I thought, I can't throw it away. So I've just kept it for, like, 10 years.

[Dilly Carter]

Do you keep everything that fans send you? Yes. So you kept it all. I mean, I need to come back to your warehouse and go back through it.

[Stacey Solomon]

It's just so lovely that someone would take the time to, like, pull up an inappropriate p. I mean, a very inappropriate picture, but spend their time and money doing that. And I think, oh, I can't just shred it and put it in the bin.

[Dilly Carter]

Do you think being in the jungle was the best thing that ever happened to you in terms of meeting Joe? You came out of it and then met him, didn't you?

[Stacey Solomon]

I don't even remember. And he remembers that day vividly. He was like, you stank. You. You. Like, he remembers everything I said in the interview. He remembers what I looked like, where I was going, who I Was with. I was. I don't remember any of it, which is so bizarre to me. I was like, you're. It's a bit stalkerish, Joe, to be honest.

[Dilly Carter]

It was love at first sight for him.

[Stacey Solomon]

Yeah. And then, like, three years later, we ended up together. So I. I am concerned.

[Dilly Carter]

So how long it took three years

[Stacey Solomon]

for you to get together?

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

No idea. I didn't even. Not when I say I don't remember meeting him or that day and he remembers it all. It does worry me slightly. I'm like, was it just a big plan for three years? I mean, three kids later.

[Dilly Carter]

Three kids later. I mean, your relationship is amazing. Have you found that something that's been, you know, one of the hardest things, like, to maintain a relationship in the public eye?

[Stacey Solomon]

No, the pub. Being in the public eye doesn't really make any difference, but being in a relationship is hard anyway.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

I think when you're in a relationship, it's hard work.

[Dilly Carter]

Absolutely.

[Stacey Solomon]

You've got. We've got three kids. We've got busy lives. Sometimes I fancy the pants off him. I can't wait to come home to see him. Sometimes I'm like, get out of my strat atmosphere.

[Dilly Carter]

Sometimes you're like, joe, I want to see you without the pickle.

[Stacey Solomon]

No, no, not often. No. No. Like, I think we're just like any other couple.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

You know, being in the public eye, I think, creates certain pressures, but not on our relationship. Because half the time, what they're saying, we know if we know it's not true, who cares?

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

Who cares if the whole world is like, oh, they're on the brink of the wall.

[Dilly Carter]

So I think that's what was great about your show, is that, you know, we saw everything waltz and all.

[Stacey Solomon]

Oh, yeah. What? Stacy and Jo. Oh, y. Sometimes we forget the cameras all there.

[Dilly Carter]

I know, but I think it showed you in a really good light. Just a normal family, you know, we're not.

[Stacey Solomon]

We're. We're not a normal family. We are super privileged. We live in extreme privilege. Especially when we think about how we both grew up.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

So in that case, we're not normal. But in every other way, there's nothing interesting about. Even when they said, we're gonna. We'd love to do a documentary about you and your lives. Me and Joe were like, we are boring. We are the most mundane celebrities you will ever meet. There is nothing exciting about us. We're not gonna go to, like, fancy events. We're just gonna go home, clean up, duck poo, and argue with each other about beans on a sofa. Do you know what I mean? There's not much to us.

[Dilly Carter]

I remember when we first met, and they had this idea about this show, and they're like, right, you're gonna go meet Stacey, a guy called Ewan, and a guy called Rob, and we're gonna meet in this pub in Essex. And when I first met you, I thought, oh, my God. When we left, it felt like we'd known each other 20 years within five minutes. I think that's the loveliest thing about you. When you're with you, it feels like you've known you forever. And, you know, you have such a lovely aura about you. And, you know, you're just. You're just you. And I love it. I mean, I think this show has been the best thing that's ever happened to me because I met you.

[Stacey Solomon]

Best thing that happened to all of us.

[Dilly Carter]

What do people ask you with? Sort your life out.

[Stacey Solomon]

Do you really do it all in seven days? Every single day? And we do, because legally, we have out in seven days. So we have to do it in seven days.

[Dilly Carter]

Yep.

[Stacey Solomon]

At the end of that week, it is. I look around and I'm like, everyone is broken.

[Dilly Carter]

I can never believe how we do that. When we hug each other at the end of the show, we're like, oh, my God. Thank God.

[Stacey Solomon]

It's the day before reveal for me. Yeah, that's the day when I'm just like, how. How do we do this?

[Dilly Carter]

What, are you, like, buying people house gifts? I mean, would you buy someone this. A picture of them?

[Stacey Solomon]

Well, if it was a. Like a wedding picture maybe, or something they might want up. But no, I think pictures are really personal, especially giant canvases.

[Dilly Carter]

Like, I mean, that was a bold picture to send.

[Stacey Solomon]

It was. I did.

[Dilly Carter]

I think it'd be so fun. Why don't you put it in the toilet downstairs? That'd be so funny.

[Stacey Solomon]

My lovely blue loo. That's not my sanctuary. Not putting Joe's penis up there.

[Dilly Carter]

Joe's pickle. Joe's little pickle. Okay. Thank you for all of your. You know very well.

[Stacey Solomon]

You can keep that picture here if you like.

[Dilly Carter]

No, I. Absolutely.

[Stacey Solomon]

And then I can tell right to the fan who sent it to us 10 years ago and say, that picture is now up in the Sort yout Life at Unpacked Podcast Studio.

[Dilly Carter]

So now we have seen and heard about all your items. My final question to you. What would you keep, donate, or sell?

[Stacey Solomon]

Well, I'd have to keep the teeth, wouldn't I? Because they're parts of my children's DNA. I then would have to donate my baton so that someone can get the joy out of it that I once got out of it. And then I'd have to recycle the pickle picture.

[Dilly Carter]

You could sell that for charity for an auction, couldn't you?

[Stacey Solomon]

Oh, yeah, that's a good idea. Sign it. Joe could sign it.

[Dilly Carter]

You could both sign it, and someone could bid on that. It'd probably be the person that sent it to you that would want to buy it back. Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

So you're gonna donate.

[Dilly Carter]

Donate the baton.

[Stacey Solomon]

Keep.

[Dilly Carter]

Keep the teeth. Sell, sell, sell the.

[Stacey Solomon]

For millions.

[Dilly Carter]

For millions.

[Stacey Solomon]

It'll be like a Mona Lisa moment.

[Dilly Carter]

And my very, very last question to you, where in your home is your happy place?

[Stacey Solomon]

I love being in my garden by the willow tree. Don't judge me. That sounds really airy. Fairy hippie.

[Dilly Carter]

No, it's.

[Stacey Solomon]

Yeah, I like to be by the willow tree. Oh, my God.

[Dilly Carter]

Willow tree in your garden?

[Stacey Solomon]

Yeah. You ever touched a willow tree?

[Dilly Carter]

No.

[Stacey Solomon]

Oh, you should touch a wheeler tree.

[Dilly Carter]

Has it got magic powers? I don't know.

[Stacey Solomon]

It just feels good.

[Dilly Carter]

When I come to your house next, I'm gonna sing.

[Stacey Solomon]

We'll hug the willow.

[Dilly Carter]

Are we gonna hug the tree, too?

[Stacey Solomon]

Yeah, we'll sing to it.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, gosh.

[Stacey Solomon]

Have you ever seen a wolf cry?

[Dilly Carter]

Okay. All right. Well, thank you. Thank you for bringing in your items. Thanks for sitting with me, as always. It's always such a joy.

[Stacey Solomon]

I love you. I'm so happy you're doing this.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, thank you.

[Stacey Solomon]

Can't wait to hear them all.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah. Thank you so much. I love you, too. I can't wait to be back with you. For more revealing home truths, organizational hacks and celeb unboxings, sort your life out. Unpacked is presented by me, Dilly Carter. You can watch us on iplayer and listen on BBC Sounds. And don't forget to subscribe on BBC Sounds and have push notifications turned on to make sure you don't miss an episode.

[Stacey Solomon]

I'm Jenny Kleeman, and for the new series of The Gift from BBC Radio 4, I'm back with six more remarkable tales of truths that unravel when people take at home DNA tests. Things just swirling around my head going, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God. Am I really the product of this? We all find ourselves really fascinating, don't we? Oh, absolutely. Except that I really am. In the end, the truth will come out. And DNA helps the truth to come out, right?

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Stacey Solomon]

Listen to the new series of the Gift now on BBC Sounds. Want to be a star?

[Dilly Carter]

No problem.

[Stacey Solomon]

Anyone can shine on TikTok. Post your first video today. Real life, real story, real you. Download TikTok and get started.

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