After having five children, TV star Stacey Solomon has opened up about being a single mother on benefits and how she turned her life around for the better.
The 34-year-old mum-of-five had her first child, Zachary, when she was just 17 with her then-boyfriend Dean Cox. Four years later, she welcomed her second son, Leighton, with her ex-fiancé Aaron Barham. Now happily married to Joe Swash, the pair currently have three children – son Rex and daughters Rose, and Belle.
‘I couldn’t get my milk vouchers’
Stacey’s career in entertainment has gone from strength to strength. Rising to fame as a finalist on The X Factor in 2009, she has since won I’m A Celeb, become a panelist on Loose Women, and now hosts her own show, Sort Your Life Out. She also has her Renovation Rescue series on Channel 4.
However, in a recent interview for New! Magazine, Stacey revealed how being a single mum later on help her career blossom.
“When I had Zachary, I went from a carefree, I’m-never-gonna-die-life-is-fantastic teenager to, ‘I’ve got a child who depends on me,” she explained.
“I realised immediately that if I wasn’t meticulously organised, I couldn’t get my milk vouchers. I had to pick up my giro at a certain time every week, I had to get the baby into nursery and out of nursery at a certain time there was so much for me to remember and think about.”
Stacey continued: “If I didn’t get my [bleep] in gear, I wouldn’t have survived. I wouldn’t have passed my A levels and I wouldn’t have kept my baby alive. It shocked me into it.”
‘I didn’t plan to get pregnant’
Giving birth for the first time as a teenager, Stacey admitted while on The X Factor that she “didn’t plan to get pregnant” so young.
Despite being a teenager, she said her “parents were really good about it”. No regrets, Stacey stated, “Zach is the most important thing in my life”.
Prior to meeting Stacey, Joe had a son with his ex-fiancé Emma Sophocleous. A big blended family of six, Stacey and Joe share six children.
Read more: Stacey Solomon hits back as she’s slammed by Instagram fans for ‘self-indulgence’
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