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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Milo Boyd

Mum and dad of UK's biggest family head on lavish holiday to the Maldives

The mum and dad of the UK's biggest family jetted off on luxurious holiday together to mark their 30th anniversary.

Noel and Sue Radford share 22 children together and have built a huge following sharing their lives in Morecambe.

On the most recent episode of their own TV show on Channel 5, called 22 Kids and Counting, viewers were treated to a look inside the parents' 30th wedding anniversary trip.

In September last year, the couple jetted off to the Maldives - without their children - to celebrate reaching the marriage milestone despite almost backing out of the five-day break twice.

The episode showed how the couple had originally planned the trip in a bid to have some time away from their hefty brood.

Sue explained how having time to themselves was often difficult as "we've always got kids that gatecrash."

The couple spent five days on the island (The Radford Family /Youtube)

She added: "We can't really go away, can we? Could you imagine."

Noel laughed and said: "The house would go to chaos, yeah."

Luckily the Radford brood was on hand to offer to cover the tasks Sue and Noel would normally take on around the house while they were way.

Despite their misgiving about the trip and what they're returned to, Noe and Sue decided to make the journey to the luxury holiday island - their first holiday away together alone in 30 years.

They were in no way let down when they arrived at their villa and took in the breath-taking sea views for the first time.

Noel bought his wife a pearl bracelet (The Radford Family /Youtube)

The loved-up childhood sweethearts had booked an exclusive five-night stay at a resort where private villas can cost £897 a night.

The pair really went all out for their trip and splashed out on flying business class to the archipelago, for the first part of their trip to Doha.

Then, they opted for the spacious Qsuite on Qatar Airways - taking advantage of the reclining chairs, private screens with remotes and Diptique gift box.

Due to a delay of an hour and 20 minutes at Manchester Airport, the couple missed their connecting flight.

They were forced to wait an extra three hours before catching the second one - where the lucky pair flew first class.

They then took a third flight, before taking a boat to get to their destination. And on their way, they documented seeing a dolphin appear directly in front of their boat.

They spent five days in luxury accommodation (The Radford Family /Youtube)

Once back from their trip, Sue has taken to social media to explain how she had returned home weighing seven pounds more than she did when she left.

She shared a video post showing a variety of food the couple indulged in during their trip - from start to finish.

The small clip included pictures of the airplane food, cocktails, copious amounts of pizza, pasta, soup, cooked breakfasts and omelettes, to fruit salads, croissants and a pina colada.

The 47-year-old captioned her post: "Couldn't not post these food pics as they are the reason I came home 7lb heavier."

Fans loved seeing every moment of the couple's trip together, with the tanned two posing for many photo opportunities together.

"You know we're really spoiling ourselves," Noel said to the camera.

"But... 30 years... why shouldn't we?"

Despite the eyebrow-raising price of food, Sue can't wait to take her family on holiday again (Instagram.com/theradford​family)

It wasn't just the luxury holiday that the dad had splashed out on.

"I've brought her a little present from the UK, I got her a pearl bracelet as it's our 30th anniversary, and you celebrate it with pearl," he said.

The couple enjoyed dinners on the beach, bike rides and a picnic on what they described as a "break of a lifetime."

Sue later uploaded a pic of a candlelight dinner and said: “We had the best day yesterday celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary.

“We finished the day off with a beautiful meal in the most beautiful setting I’ve ever seen.”

The Radfords, who live in a 10-bedroom former care home, don't rely on benefits and are financially supported by their pie shop business.

Sue and Noel are parents to Chris, 32, Sophie, 27, Chloe, 26, Jack, 24, Daniel, 22, Luke, 21, Millie, 20, Katie, 19, James, 18, Ellie, 16, Aimee, 15, Josh, 14, Max, 12, Tillie, 11, Oscar, 10, Casper, nine, Hallie, six, Phoebe, five, Archie, four, Bonnie, three, and Heidie, one.

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