Sponger dad Mike Holpin sparked outrage earlier this month after claiming he’d fathered 40 children by up to 20 different women.

Shockingly, at least 16 of his kids – aged between three and 37 – have been taken into care, and unemployed Mike, 56, says he hasn’t met over half of them, admitting to “losing track” of his enormous brood.

AMY CHILDS BLASTS THE BENEFITS SYSTEM: 'WHY AM I PAYING TAX FOR PEOPLE WITH LOADS OF CHILDREN?'

Incredibly, his 46-year-old fiancée, Diane Morris, is standing by former alcoholic Mike – who has cost the taxpayer a staggering £4.5million in benefits and care costs – and insists he’s a changed man.

Unemployed mum-of-one Diane – who lives in Ebbw Vale, South Wales, with Mike and two of his daughters, aged 16 and 19, in a two-bed terraced council house – says: “I know everyone thinks Mike’s a terrible dad, but they’re wrong. He was an alcoholic for 37 years and it meant he lost track of how many children he had and didn’t know how to be a father. But he’s been sober for five years now and is determined to clean up his act.

"Even though he hasn’t met and is unable to name half of his children, he’s determined to be a good dad to the rest of them. He sees nine of them once every couple of weeks and we take them shopping or to the park. We can’t afford to visit them regularly or buy them presents.”

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