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21 kids and counting

765 replies

thannyflaps · 03/01/2019 22:00

Just watching the latest episode - how on earth do they afford to run that household? iPhones for the kids, holidays to Spain for 20 people, a new kitchen.

There is no way a bakery would generate that much money. Would channel 4 really pay that well for their participation in the programme?

Thanny Flaps

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potatoscone · 05/01/2019 01:16

got the impression that Noel does not want the kids to be independent adults.

He doesn't, does he?

He likes to have control, be the big man.

I just feel so sad for them all.

bluebellpillow · 05/01/2019 08:18

Maybe it's for the board money? I really hope they don't take a penny off Chloe after all she does for them.

potatoscone · 05/01/2019 08:30

Nothing to do with money. It's all about Noel and his little cult.

PollyFlinderz · 05/01/2019 08:33

Maybe it's for the board money? I really hope they don't take a penny off Chloe after all she does for them

The older kids pay board money and I’m assuming that includes Chloe who’s wages crossed my mind during the bakery scene as in - I wonder if she gets a proper wage and all employee benefits

PatchworkElmer · 05/01/2019 08:47

It was the toddler left unattended on the kitchen counter that got me 😱

I also thought it was sad that Noel didn’t know any of their birthdays.

Aeroflotgirl · 05/01/2019 08:54

Yes Noel seemed so controlling, I wonder if he is like that with Sue, it sound like him who wants the babies, not her, I think if she was with a non controlling partner, she would have stopped ages ago. It seems about what he wants, not what Sue or the others would like. It is like he wants his own little commune. Very unhealthy attitude. Sue will stop when she cannot have anymore, or when he says so.

They have an older son, who is 29, he does not seem to feature, I think he has his own life away from it all. Their kids seem much more mature than Sue or Noel. It is sad when asked to recall his kids birthdays, he could not recall any of them.

Aeroflotgirl · 05/01/2019 08:56

They both need psychological help, not more kids, they are messing their kids up with their attitude. Who would not want their adult kids to fly the nest and eek a life out for themselves, it is part of being a parent, raising them and then letting them go. They are all under Noel control.

WatchingTheWheels85 · 05/01/2019 09:03

I just can't get over she has worn the same shirt to give birth in!

lardass88 · 05/01/2019 09:19

What's going to happen when the children are all grown up and moved out?
And it's just sue and Noel? Will they have anything in common after having children for their entire lives?

Aeroflotgirl · 05/01/2019 09:22

lardass88, that is if Noel lets them move out, any desire that they have to move out, is quickly thwarted by Noel.

KylieJennersTopLip · 05/01/2019 09:28

I suppose they're hoping their 20 kids will go onto have loads of kids and they'll be surrounded by babies and film crews for ever more Hmm

Aeroflotgirl · 05/01/2019 09:32

All they have to look forward to when they are older, is massive family holidays in which they have to look after the younger kids, and working in the Pie shop.

jjemimapuddleduck · 05/01/2019 10:13

I always wonder if they would have more than 16 if the TV cameras hadn't been around. Would they have stopped there or did they realise it was going to be very lucrative to keep having babies with all the related excitement and sponsorship opportunities?

MsMiaWallace · 05/01/2019 10:17

I always think god it must be a nightmare when the kids get nits. Or with the girls periods etc!
Also the washing... all the time....

woolduvet · 05/01/2019 10:42

Another thing I sadly think about is toys, at Christmas you can't move in that lounge for all the presents, but all you see is a few toys in the toddlers bedrooms and a box in the lounge. What is this mystic storage system??

JustDanceAddict · 05/01/2019 10:48

I think Sue is addicted to the feeling of bringing the baby home/the attention as well. You could see that at the end of the show.
Also the thought of all that laundry is mind boggling.

potatoscone · 05/01/2019 11:20

I think Sue is addicted to the feeling of bringing the baby home/the attention as well

I think she is deeply unhappy and just wants to be loved. She was pregnant at 13, so the grooming goes further back than that. Growing up with absent parents often leaves people feeling lost and trying to fill that space, Noel has made her feel as if she is doing well by producing all these people. That's what she will be craving, that feeling of being someone.

Aeroflotgirl · 05/01/2019 11:28

What Noel says goes. Just before she was due, he decided to put a new kitchen in, seriously! Without any thought to Sue or how it might impact on her, she basically seemed worn down by it. They have been together since she was 13/14, so he has had years to control and manipulate her, and he comes across as quite controlling.

Aeroflotgirl · 05/01/2019 11:29

Sue does not speak up, she lets him do what he wants, if that was dh, the kitchen just before my due date would not be happening. The last thing I would want to go on, before I was due, is a family holiday to Spain away from local hospitals. Very stressful.

bluebellpillow · 05/01/2019 11:57

potatoscone Sue's parents are far from absent, if anything it could be argued that them giving so much support has enabled their growth of family. I doubt if her parents supported their decision to keep Chris that she could have and he would most likely have been put up for adoption. I'm not sure what rights a 14 year old would have had back then, with no financial means?
They regularly have the grandchildren and great grandchildren over for sleepovers, have gone on multiple holidays with the family and always came and stayed whilst she was in hospital giving birth.

potatoscone · 05/01/2019 12:02

Sue's parents are far from absent,

Oh. Ok. I must have got it wrong. I thought she was adopted.

bluebellpillow · 05/01/2019 12:03

Also the kitchen was a #spon or paid partnership so they may not have had much say about when it went in, I assume the company wanted it shown on the filming. They don't seem that bothered about timing things well anyway, they booked to go for Florida knowing that Sue was going to give birth in the same month. I suppose their lives are chaotic at the best of times anyway, so it makes little difference.

bluebellpillow · 05/01/2019 12:06

Yes they were both adopted at birth, so I suppose they have absent birth parents, if that's what you mean? Lots of people keep saying they grew up in care homes and knew no different, which obviously isn't true.

Redcrayonisthebest · 05/01/2019 12:08

@bluebellpillow that's interesting, do they just choose not to be part of the programs then? Because you don't see them.

The bit about the kitchen, I'm not sure Noel can be blamed for that, I'm guessing that the tv company offered them sponsorship if it was done within the time frame of the show.

potatoscone · 05/01/2019 12:09

so I suppose they have absent birth parents, if that's what you mean

That's exactly what i meant.

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