Mum of UK's biggest family reveals staggering amount she spends on food after being taken to court over £52,000 holiday

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Mum of UK's biggest family reveals staggering amount she spends on food after being taken to court over £52,000 holiday

Mum-of-22 Sue Radford has revealed just how much the UK's biggest family spends on food each week following a £52,000 trip to Disney World

The mum to Britain’s biggest family has revealed the staggering cost of feeding her household each week.

Morecambe-based Sue, 50, and Noel Radford, 54, known for starring in Channel 5’s 22 Kids and Counting, were in court last month after spending £52,000 on a trip to Disney World.

Earlier this year, they went to Florida to celebrate Sue's 50th Birthday with almost all of the family.

But when they got back, the parents received fines for taking their kids out of school, as reported by LancsLive.

It turns out that they were found guilty at Preston Magistrates’ Court of failing to ensure that four of their children attended school regularly between 24 March and 1 May 2025.

They were fined £65 for each child and ordered to pay £118 in court costs, adding an extra £756 to the total cost of their £52,000 Florida holiday.

Now, I'm sure you're thinking, how can they afford a holiday that is almost £20,000 more than the average yearly salary?

How the Radford's earn their money

The family got in trouble for a holiday to Disney World (Instagram/@theradfordfamily)
The family got in trouble for a holiday to Disney World (Instagram/@theradfordfamily)

So one of the family’s former income streams was the Radford Pie Company, which Noel ran before retiring in 2023.

Along with their TV deal, 22 Kids and Counting, they are able to monetize their content online with just over 535,000 followers on Instagram and 375,000 subscribers on YouTube.

How much is their weekly shop

Taking to Instagram recently, Sue put up a photo of their kitchen table fully covered in Aldi groceries.

She asked her followers if they could guess how much was on the table, but most were way off.

“Lots of you guessed pretty close, but most guessed around £200,” Sue said.

“The actually total was £375.65 [sic].”

The star of Channel 5's 22 Kids and Counting shared pictures of their weekly shop (Instagram/@theradfordfamily)
The star of Channel 5's 22 Kids and Counting shared pictures of their weekly shop (Instagram/@theradfordfamily)

Although that figure will most likely fluctuation, that equates to an eye-watering £19,533.80 a year on weekly food shops.

Noel addressed their most common question

Well, as you might expect, the larger-than-average family get a lot of questions, and one that regularly crops up is how old the pair were when they had their first child.

They are parents to Christopher, 36, Sophie, 31, Chloe, 30, Jack, 28, Daniel, 26, Luke, 25, Millie, 24, Katie, 22, James, 22, Ellie, 20, Aimee, 19, Josh, 18, Max, 16, Tillie, 15, Oscar, 14, Casper, 13, Alfie (stillborn), Hallie, 10, Phoebe, nine, Archie, eight, Bonnie, six, and Heidie, five.

Sue and Noel Radford are parents to 22 children (Instagram/@theradfordfamily)
Sue and Noel Radford are parents to 22 children (Instagram/@theradfordfamily)

"People have inevitably talked about the situation, and it has been written about in the newspapers and discussed on social media," Noel wrote in The Radfords: Making Life Count, as Sue got pregnant with her first child when she was 13.

"There has been a lot of focus on it and, in a way, it was probably worse for us than when it actually happened. So many people have given their opinions.

"But we were both kids, it was not as if I was 10 or 15 years older than Sue."

The father continued: "For a lot of people, though, things are just black and white, and you are tarnished with the same brush as other people in totally different situations.

"We were young and we were daft. But we wanted to continue as a couple."

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@theradfordfamily

Topics: UK News, Food And Drink, Parenting