Dad-of-22 Noel Radford defends getting spouse pregnant at 13 – when he was 17

Dad of UK’s largest household Noel Radford spoke out concerning the first time Sue fell pregnant at 13.

The now 53-year-old, from Morecambe, mentioned they “were both just kids” within the eyes of the regulation. Noel was simply 17 when he came upon he was going to turn out to be a dad for the primary time.

And the couple did not “get a knock on the door saying he’d be in trouble”. He spilled the beans of their new e-book, The Radfords: Making Life Count.

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Noel wrote within the e-book: “What happened back then has obviously been brought up again in recent years, after we became known by going on television.”

He added: “People have inevitably talked about the situation and it has been written about in the newspapers and discussed on social media.

“There has been a number of concentrate on it and, in a approach, it was most likely worse for us than when it truly occurred. So many individuals have given their opinions.

“But we were both kids it was not as if I was 10 or 15 years older than Sue. 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 have been younger and we have been daft. But we wished to proceed as a pair.”

The dad said despite him being over the age of consent, while Sue was below it, he wasn’t in any bother with the authorities. He claimed back then it was “right down to your mums and dads”.

“There was no knock on the door saying I was in big trouble,” he mentioned. “I think someone, somewhere may have had to report it, the doctor maybe, but there weren’t any repercussions.”

The couple raised eyebrows when their TV present revealed Sue had simply turned 14 when she welcomed their first youngster, whereas Noel was 18 and a half.

Noel admitted: “Some of the comments from people were brutal – that I should have been arrested and things like that. Even though I was just 17 – still a kid, including in the eyes of the law.

“But it would not trouble me. People will say what they like. I do not care what they are saying.”

Sue, now 48, added the bad comments “have an effect on the youngsters”, particularly their eldest son Chris.

In the book, the couple also revealed they were introduced because Noel was pals with Sue’s older brother, first meeting when Noel was 11 and Sue was seven.

They shared their first kiss in August 1988 after a primary date “hanging around in Kendal”, then Sue fell pregnant in September.

The couple, who have been each adopted as youngsters, did not need their child to undergo the identical factor and have been decided to boost him themselves.

Noel dropped out of catering faculty to get a job in a grocery store, whereas Sue began house education for a number of months. She returned to high school firstly of Year 10 and accomplished her GCSEs.

A yr later, in 1992, the pair acquired married. Sue’s dad needed to get particular permission from the vicar.

Now three a long time on, the couple are dad and mom to Chris, 34, Sophie, 30, Chloe, 28, Jack, 26, Daniel, 24, Luke, 23, Millie, 22, Katie, 21, James, 20, Ellie, 18, Aimee, 17, Josh, 16, Max, 15, Tillie, 13, Oscar, 12, Casper, 11, Hallie, eight, Phoebe, seven, Archie, six, Bonnie, 5, and Heidie, three. They additionally had a son Alfie, who was stillborn in 2014.

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