22 Kids And Counting | Series 3 Preview (Channel 5)

The Radfords are Britain’s biggest family and in this new series they’re facing a wave of super-sized family dramas, unlike anything they’re ever experienced before!

Noel and Sue, along with their ever-growing brood of twenty-two children, nine grandchildren and six dogs, have had their busiest year to date… from selling their house and trying to build a new (very big) house in the country, to trying to cope with a colossal energy bill; from tough love interventions with errant teenagers, to Noel investigating his own (painful) family history, after a family DNA test brings back an unexpected result.

Oh, and there’s also the biggest Radford holiday ever, a (doomed) attempt to emigrate to Florida, a struggle to control the purse strings when Sue’s spending gets out of control and a bloody struggle for power in the backrooms of the family pie business.

And that’s to say nothing with the shocking, special episode that opens the series second oldest daughter Chloe is rushed to hospital with birth complications that send the Radford house into crisis mode… although, after 22 births, Noel and Sue are great in a crisis.

That’s all on top of the usual business of being a Radford – the (literal) tonnes of washing, the bins that constantly need emptying, the mountains of recycling, and the steady procession of kids that need to be put to bed/woken up/ sent to school/ sent for a time out on the naughty step(s).

But there’s no family drama that can’t be solved with a lot of love, and in the year of Noel and Sue’s 30th anniversary, there’s even more love to go round than usual… It’s the most dramatic episode to date as Noel and Sue’s second oldest daughter, 27-year-old Chloe faces a medical emergency.

Chloe is pregnant with her first child with partner Jake, and the whole family gets together to celebrate with a Radford-sized gender reveal party. When Chloe and Jake go shopping for their impending arrival, they’re shocked by how much new babies can cost. It’s a complicated pregnancy for Chloe and things take a serious turn when it’s time to give birth.

After being rushed to hospital in an ambulance, there’s a tense wait for news for Noel and Sue before they can celebrate the latest member of the family. Sue celebrates her 47th birthday, resulting in a new resolution.

After giving birth to 22 children Sue decides it’s time to get her body back and improve her fitness, but after being pregnant for a total of 16 years, it’s not easy. After falling back in love with swimming, she signs herself up for an open water swim in the Lake District – but will her hard work pay off?

22 Kids And Counting returns Sunday 8th January on Channel 5.