She had her fifth child last month, a baby daughter called Belle – just 16 months after welcoming her daughter Rose. And last week Stacey Solomon gave fans an insight into how hectic her life has been, expressing her relief after washing her hair for the first time since Belle was born.
Taking to her Instagram Stories, she posted, “Finally done it, finally washed this mop. Sweet, sweet smell of not grease. I feel emotional about it, honestly, I feel like I should make a speech it’s been that long.
“I want to thank my newborn baby for not crying long enough for me to shampoo and condition. I want to thank my husband for sleeping next to me night after night and not asking for a divorce. The smell can’t have been easy to sleep with!” In another post, she added “100% of the time I feel fu**ed”.
Fans have been able to relate to her picture of a chaotic family life, with one writing to Stacey, “As a mum of four and nanna of six grandchildren, I know how hard it is!”
And insiders tell Closer that the fun-loving TV presenter’s friends are worried about Stacey overwhelming herself as she throws herself into parenting her brood alongside managing her thriving career.
A source says, “Some friends wonder if she is spreading herself too thin and could end up having a wobble if she doesn’t look after herself. They all know she’s a ‘supermum’, but they also think occasionally Stacey needs to give herself a break.”
Stacey, 33, has been open about her mental health struggles with her 5.6m followers and about her busy life at Pickle Cottage – the £1.2m Essex property she lives in with husband Joe Swash, 41, and children Zach, 14, and Leighton, 10 (from previous relationships), Rex, three, Rose, 17 months, and newborn Rose.
In December, the social media star confessed that it can be difficult for her and former EastEnders star and TV presenter Joe to juggle their individual careers and family life.
“Joe and I can be like ships passing in the night... When I work, he looks after the kids, and when he works, I have the kids,” she said.
And Stacey, who found fame on The X Factor in 2009, has also been open about her struggles with anxiety over the years. She once bravely admitted, “Sometimes my anxiety is really dark. Like, I can’t breathe, and feel like I’m having a heart attack.
“With each of my children, I had a slump where I was unable to enjoy it in the way that some people can,” she continued.
“With Zach, I didn’t know it was postnatal depression, but I knew I had to find a way to cope with those thoughts. Setting my mind to a task like organising something allows me to feel a bit more in control of that.”
In another interview, Stacey – who won a new army of fans with her tidying show Sort Your Life Out – elaborated on how cleaning distracts her busy mind, saying, “The only way for me to completely block out those thoughts when I’m feeling out of control is to focus my mind on a task and that can be tidying something, organising something or crafting something.”
More recently, the Loose Women panellist detailed how she never takes anything for granted due to a fear that she could lose everything. “You’re constantly thinking, ‘I’d better hold on to that and I’d better not waste that’ because in a few months’ time I could be on the streets,” she said.
But despite her worries, career-wise, Stacey has been going from strength to strength and she was recently scouted by Reese Witherspoon’s US production company, Hello Sunshine, for a DIY show on Channel 4 called Brickin’ It.
Announcing the news on Instagram, Stacey wrote, “[Hello Sunshine] asked me if I wanted to make a show with them, and I was like, ‘Hell yeah! I’ll make a show with Reese Witherspoon’s production company!’”
The source adds that despite her hectic work schedule, she’s adamant she has it all under control and is well able to manage her manic lifestyle.
A source adds, “Stacey understands that some of her pals and family worry about her, but she’s assured everyone that she can handle it. She’s grown used to spinning multiple plates while making sure that everyone is looked after.”