What started out as an empowering snap about single mothers, saw Stacey Solomon forced to defend herself from all angles – not least questions about her relationship with Joe Swash.
Stace has headed off on holiday with her two kids, Zachary, nine, and five-year-old Leighton, and shared a very candid photo on Instagram of the family wiped out on what seemed to be a stressful flight.
She wrote a long message alongside the image: “Shout out to all of the single mums taking their babies for the time of their lives this summer. It isn’t easy!”
She continued: “After three hours of trying to shout at them while whispering and using only facial expressions this finally happened and we have landed safe and sound.
“I take my hat off to all mums and dads doing it by themselves. Best job in the world but the toughest.”
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Stacey is currently dating former EastEnders actor Joe Swash, but as she seemed to be travelling without him fans were quick to worry that the pair were no longer together.
“Hope you haven’t split from Joe?” asked one.
“Don’t tell me you and Joe have split?” said another, while a third replied: “Oh no, what happened to Joe???”
Stacey was quick to reply that all was fine with her and her fella. “For everyone asking! Joe isn’t with me because he is working we are very much together and happy!!”
Phew! That’s a relief.
Some comments suggested she wasn’t a single mum, though: “You aren’t a single mum, you’ve got the lovely Joe haven’t you?” said one, while another wrote: “Have u and Joe split ? Not really a single mother otherwise…”
Users leapt to Stacey’s defence, quick to point out that just because Stacey has Joe, doesn’t mean she’s not a single mum, as she’s still the one raising her kids.
Still, it didn’t stop others laying into her. One said: “Sorry but as a single mum myself taking kids on a plane yourself ain’t that hard I’m afraid.”
Another, who clearly hadn’t read the post correctly said it was hard for single dads too. To which Stacey responded:
“I deffo mentioned dads in this post too.”
When one user pointed out she was lucky enough to be able to afford a holiday, saying: “It’s a lot easier hun when you have money like you do and I’m sure your family help,” Stacey once again responded.
The panellist decided to address all the criticism in the one post as she wrote: “I’m not trying to get empathy for myself.”
She added: “Just simply letting all of the hard working parents out there know that they’re doing an amazing job and it isn’t easy WHATEVER their circumstances.
“And FYI I am a single mother even though I have a partner he isn’t there to raise my children for me, and I’m so proud of all I’ve achieved for me and my children and I don’t feel bad about it.”
Good for you, Stacey!
We think she’s doing a great job as a mum and we love having her on our screens on Loose Women.
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She recently opened up about getting married to Joe and said they’re in no rush. Speaking to The Sun, she explained:
“Because he’s got a little boy and I’ve got two boys, we just want to take our time and make sure they’re super happy and comfortable and we want to do it properly because we do actually like each other, a lot.
“We want to stay together for a long time and I think the key to that is to really know what you’re doing and take your time with it and be sensible.
“We’ve both been head over heels and both gone with the wind [before] but we really value our relationship, we want it to be perfect so that it’s forever.”
Sounds sensible to us.