Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash moving out of Pickle Cottage for new home
Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash have sold their £1.3 million family home in Essex after five years.
Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash have sold their "dream" family home Pickle Cottage.
The couple are moving out of their £1.3 million Essex pad after five years for a new property that "needs a lot of love" and offers them more land for their blended family, with Stacey hoping to "rescue more animals" and "grow more vegetables".
Stacey, 36, and Joe, 44, are parents to son Rex, seven, and daughters Rose, five, and Belle, three, while the latter has son Harry, 19, with his ex-partner, Emma Sophocleous, and she has son Zachary, 18, with her ex-partner Dean Cox, and Leighton, 14, with former fiance Aaron Barnham.
In a video posted on Instagram on Wednesday (02.09.26), Stacey said: "We are leaving and moving out of Pickle Cottage imminently, which I never thought I'd say."
Explaining why they kept the move a secret, the ex-Loose Women panellist continued: "You don't know if it's going to happen till it actually happens.
"And also, leaving Pickle Cottage was a massive decision for us; we had a lot of people we needed to speak to, we needed to get the kids around to the idea, we needed to speak to all our neighbours, our lovely friends in the area.
"There were so many people we needed to speak to before we told everybody, and then also, like even the thought of selling Pickle Cottage felt like it would be impossible if everyone knew we were selling Pickle Cottage.
"So we've just waited until someone amazing came along and fell in love with Pickle Cottage."
EastEnders alum Joe added: "Also, it's not just like we're selling another house to go to another house. We look at Pickle Cottage like it's got its own life."
Stacey went on to explain why Pickle Cottage - where she and Joe filmed their BBC reality TV show - holds a special place in their hearts.
She continued: "Pickle Cottage is our dream house, as soon as we moved here, we fell in love with it. I still love it so, so much. It's a really special place to us. I gave birth to both of the girls there, we got married there, it's just so special to us."
The X Factor 2009 star and Joe - who tied the knot in 2022 - had been considering moving for some time to have more land for their family and animals.
Stacey said: "For a little while, we have always - well, I especially and then Joe, in the last few years, has got on board with me - wanted to rescue more animals and grow more vegetables.
"So we have always been thinking if there was ever a chance to move further out and get a bit more land, then we would consider it.
"And we saw somewhere, and I was like, oh my God, we could have a massive vegetable patch, and we could offer our land to animals who need it and stuff like that, and we could bring the horses back there, the ponies, and we went to see it."
Joe added: "And we fell in love."
The I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! 2008 winner also noted that the decision to leave Pickle Cottage "wasn't an easy" one.
Joe said: "We built our lives together at Pickle Cottage, but we've found somewhere where we can see our family growing and really flourishing, and this is the place."
Stacey admitted it felt strange to say goodbye to Pickle Cottage as they prepare to start a new chapter.
She said: "It has come to the point where it's actually time to say goodbye to Pickle Cottage, which feels so weird, and basically move everything across to our new chapter."
The I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! 2010 champion revealed their new home will need a lot of work, but she cannot wait to take on the project.
Stacey said: "We're moving somewhere really, really different, and it does need a lot of love.
"And what I can tell you is I loved bringing Pickle Cottage back to life. I got so much joy from that, and, genuinely, every single thing I did there I loved, and I'm excited to do that all again somewhere else."
The singer reflected on how much her family loved their time at Pickle Cottage, saying: "I will truly miss Pickle, and will always forever be grateful for everything that we got from Pickle. We never in our lives growing up thought we'd ever live in a house like Pickle Cottage.
"We feel so lucky to have had that chance, and to be starting again and opening a new chapter somewhere else, we feel really lucky as well."
Stacey concluded by thanking fans for following their journey at Pickle Cottage.
She said: "Thank you for loving Pickle Cottage with us. I feel like you came along for the journey of Pickle, and that made it even more special, and if you're sad that we're leaving, I'm sorry.
"We're sad but happy and excited for the next chapter and, hopefully, you'll enjoy this chapter with us as well.
"We're going to be saying goodbye to Pickle Cottage really soon and then hello to Pickle Project."
