She has become renowned for sharing insights into her busy family life at Pickle Cottage, where she’s often rushed off her feet looking after her five children.
But Stacey Solomon uncharacteristically let her hair down last week, as she partied the night away with best friend Sophie Hinchliffe – better known under her cleaning influencer moniker “Mrs Hinch” – plus sister Jemma and pals.
Stacey documented the fun on her Instagram Story, joking with fans to “pray” for her husband Joe Swash the day after as she partied at a drag brunch. “Somehow I’ve ended up back out again. This hasn’t happened since I was about 17. I’m a 5pm home girl!” she wrote.
Clad in thigh-high boots, the mum of five, 33, was captured by Mrs Hinch rummaging through her bag of “essentials” at the end of the night, which included two dummies and her phone. It was in this photo that fans got a glimpse of Stacey’s first-ever tattoo – Joe’s name on her ring finger.
It came just under a week after Stacey shocked fans by pondering over whether she was having a “midlife crisis”, as she considered getting inked. “So, Belle and me were having a quiet Friday laying on the sofa and I think I want a tattoo,” she told her fans.
And now, an insider says that Essex-born Stacey is keen to recapture her wild side after a long period of striving for “perfection” on Instagram.
“Stacey wants to show the world that she’s more than just a happy homemaker,” a source tells Closer.
“After all her hard work and getting into a routine with a new baby, Stacey feels like she’s got a handle on things and wants to let her hair down and go wild. She has joked about it being a midlife crisis, but the truth is she does feel ready to go a bit off the rails and have some real fun.”
The foundations of Stacey’s glittering career were built when she finished third on The X Factor in 2009. Since then, she has worked her way up to household name status, thanks to her role as a Loose Women panellist, securing collaborations and brand deals, as well as numerous TV stints such as I’m A Celebrity! and Sort Your Life Out. She has amassed 6 million loyal Instagram followers along the way, whom she regularly updates on her life.
And a source adds that the social media star is determined to not get bogged down by how her life is perceived by people online.
An insider says, “Stacey’s been driving herself nuts for years trying to be ‘Little Miss Perfect’ and never put a foot wrong. She goes to great lengths to ensure she doesn’t show off her lavish lifestyle and alienate fans who can’t relate to that way of life – but she knows there will always be some negative comments. She suddenly feels that it’s time to do what she wants and get a little wild with her pals. And the best way to get revenge on the trolls is to look glam and sexy. She’s blessed to have great friends around her, and is vowing to spend more time with them and be spontaneous.”
Stacey has three children with ex-EastEnders actor Joe – Belle, three months, Rose, 19 months, and three-year-old Rex. She also has two older sons from previous relationships, Zachary, 15, with ex-partner Dean Cox, and Leighton, 10, with ex-fiancé Aaron Barham. Before her life-changing X Factor appearance, a friend revealed that her ideal night was “getting drunk on Malibu and Coke” and she was “out every weekend enjoying herself”.
And now a source explains, “Stacey sometimes forgets all the crazy things she’s done in her past, like having the guts at 19 to audition for X Factor, or her wild whirlwind romance with Jackass star Steve-O. More recently her life has been about making a picture-perfect home at Pickle Cottage. While that is fulfilling and fun, Stacey knows there’s more to life and she is trying to step into a more chaotic era of her life while also holding down her career and family duties. She desperately needs to let off some steam after being so concerned about trolls and spending so much time online and looking at her phone.”
They add, “It’s a win-win situation because people are less judgemental about having a night out as everyone does it – she wants to have more wild nights out and just be more spontaneous with her life.”