GOOD CLEAN FUN - 'I really like to organise things I find it therapeutic'

Sort Your Life Out presenter Stacey Solomon on how tidying up helps her shut out anxious thoughts, the reason she only shares happy memories on social media, and why it's husband Joe Swash who puts out the bins

She's the queen of crafts, a regular presenter on our television screens and juggles five children at home, so it's a wonder that Stacey Solomon manages to find a work/family balance. Yet when we sit down for a chat with the 34-year-old at her stunning Essex home, Pickle Cottage, in between school runs and meetings, Stacey appears very much at ease.

"I have a very high-traffic household," jokes the bubbly star as she offers a warm welcome. Stacey and her husband of two years, Joe Swash, 42, have three children - Rex, five, Rose, two, and one-year-old Belle and she is also mum to Zachary, 16, and Leighton, 12, from previous relationships.

"My life is just so ad hoc, so I have to set myself goals at the time, depending on what's happening. And then I ask family and people to help. For example, if my dad's looking after the kids, I'm like, 'Dad, please load the dishwasher for me.' Everyone has to chip in."

When it comes to everyone chipping in, Stacey says her eldest sons, Zach and Leighton, are constantly helping to pick up the slack around the house.

"That's one of the good things about having such an age gap. For me and Joe, there's three little kids to two adults, so it's always helpful when one of the teenagers is like, 'OK, give me Rex, you take Rose and Joe can take Belle.' We can all share the parenting a little. People might think that's right or wrong, but it's just how we do it." The age gap between her children has also given Stacey an insight into just how fast time flies. "I feel like I've got the privilege of knowing just how quickly Zach has become 16, left school and is starting college and work," she says.

"So I take every opportunity to be as present as possible with the little ones, because I didn't have that opportunity when I was 18 and I had Zach. Back then, I had to go back to college and work and all of that.