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Mum-of-22 Sue Radford has confirmed that her eldest daughter Sophie’s 10 year marriage to husband Joe Bradley is over.

Speaking exclusively to The Mirror ahead of a new series of the family’s TV show 22 Kids & Counting on Sunday, she says: “Sadly, a lot of marriages do break down and you can’t fix them. They [Sophie and Joe] aren’t together anymore, but they are making it work with their three children.”

Sue, 50, and her husband Noel, 51, are famous for their huge family, with children including Chris, 36, Sophie, 32, Chloe, 30, Jack, 28, Daniel, 26, Luke, 25, Millie, 24, Katie, 23, James, 22, Ellie, 20, Aimee, 19, Josh, 18, Max, 17, Tillie, 15, Oscar, 14, Casper, 13, Hallie, 10, Phoebe, nine, Archie, eight, Bonnie, seven, and Heidie, five.

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Sunday’s episode of the show on 5 will focus on Sophie’s marriage split. Sue says: “We are really proud of Sophie for sharing this on camera. She wanted to share how she was feeling and how she is feeling now.”

It will be the first time Sue, Noel and Sophie have publicly confirmed it’s over, although mum-of-three Sophie fuelled speculation after writing that she was ‘single’ on Instagram last May.

Refusing to confirm the split until now, she decided to use the family show as the platform to make things public. Watching her heartbreak was difficult for her parents, who only want her to be happy.

Sue says: “Sadly, a lot of marriages do break down and you can’t fix them. Some people do decide to go their own way. They [Sophie and Joe] aren’t together anymore, but they are making it work with their three children.”

Sue and Noel, of Morecambe, Lancashire, realised something was wrong during a family holiday to Orlando, Florida, to celebrate her 50th last April.

Sue says: “We realised it had been brewing for a while. Sophie couldn’t live like that anymore. She is definitely a lot happier now.” Noel adds: “We’ve known Joe for a long time and we want him to be happy as well.”

Sue continues: “Joe was around at Christmas with Sophie and the kids at ours. Joe will go round after school to help with the kids after he finishes work. He is very hands on, which is nice.”

Asked if they would like Sophie to meet another man, Noel replies: “Yes. definitely. But when she is ready. She is in no rush and she is getting herself into a routine being a single mum.”

Ruminating on their own happy marriage, Noel, who runs a pie company with Sue, jokes: “Sue is lucky to have me!”

*22 Kids & Counting returns to 5 on Sunday 1st Feb at 8pm. Watch/stream on 5.