22 Kids & Counting | Series 9 Preview (Channel 5)

“You can’t break a promise.” It’s a simple rule Noel and Sue have always taught their many children and grandchildren. In this episode, Sue discovers just how difficult it can be to live by those words.

After her efforts to get the children reading more fall flat, they strike a bargain. They promise to read a new book - but only if Sue agrees to spend ‘World Book Day’ dressed as a grasshopper. What choice does she have but to say yes? Now she has to tackle the school run, a shopping trip and even a pie delivery round, all while wearing the kids hilarious costume. There’s no backing out now - after all, a promise is a promise.

Tonight’s main story is a lesson for us all. It centres on another promise - one that Noel believes should never have been broken.

When Noel’s mum, Val, married her second husband, Clive, they bought a home together and made wills leaving their respective halves of the estate to their chosen beneficiaries. Val’s share was to pass to Noel and his brother, Ian.

Six years after Val’s death, Clive passes away. The brothers are genuinely saddened by his loss. Clive had been part of their lives for decades; he was even Noel’s English teacher at secondary school. As Noel reflects, “He made my mum happy. If my mum was happy, we were happy.”

His death also means Noel and Ian finally expect to receive the inheritance their mother intended for them. When Val died, they had agreed that Clive would keep her ashes and treasured possessions until the end of his life, believing he would honour the wishes they had made together.

Instead, they receive the shock of their lives. Clive changed his will, and Noel and Ian get nothing, not even their mum’s ashes and possessions.

The brothers are left questioning why Clive broke the promise he made to their mother and whether there is any way to challenge his final wishes. Can they undo what has been done and restore the legacy they believe their mum always intended them to receive?

22 Kids And Counting returns Sunday 13th September at 8pm on Channel 5.