The Radford Family #26 Noel and Sue really are thick, they didn’t notice their dog has no dick

[emmawhu]

I remember watching a KAC when she was pregnant with Bonnie and Noel wanted Heidi then. They were in a shop and he picked up something personalised and said 'we'll put an e on the end'. I remember thinking then what a stupid idea that was.

There's loads more e/ie names without ruining the spelling of a perfectly good name. Admittedly some of these started life ending in Y but the ie forms are all widely accepted.

Evie, Edie, Maisie, Hollie, Mollie, Zoe, Janie, Lucie, Carrie, Chrissie etc

I worked with an Amie once. Thank goodness the Radfords at least gave Aimee a recognised spelling.

Tillie and Millie is ridiculous enough, can you imagine a Phoebe (FeeBee) and Evie (EeVee) or Edie (EeDee) in the same house?!

Or Millie and Mollie. Hallie and Hollie?! Chloe and Zoe?! They have a granddaughter Maisie (which rhymes with another granddaughter, Daisy!)

The theme leaves them ridiculously restricted to the point that most remaining ee choices sound utterly ridiculous with the existing children's names.

I could imagine them with a Lexie, Gracie, Sadie, Darcie, Rosie, even Rubie or Poppie with the ridiculous misspellings. Lottie would have fitted well. There are still plenty of ee names that would work, and yet they seem to go for such similar sounding ones all the time. I remember one of the kids suggesting Amelie in a vlog when she was having Heidie and Sue was like "ooh I like that". You already have an Aimee ffs!

Why they persist in messing with spellings to fit a ridiculous theme is beyond me. Heidi still ends with the ee sound, likewise Tilly and Amy spelt the more usual ways (although I don't mind the French Aimee to be fair). Why does it have to be the letter e as well as the sound?

I remember the conversation you mention, in the rock shop, and I was so cross that he cared so little about spelling. It was the casual shrug of "we'll just stick an e on the end" when Sue mentioned it didn't end in e. You're not the one who has to live with it Noel! If it was up to him, Heidie would be living as Hiedie, poor mite (another 'hilarious' mishap I'm convinced was just staged for the show).

It was on a stick of rock, that they saw the name Heidi!
Great way to choose your child's name

To be fair I remember he'd mentioned it previously, and Sue made it clear she wasn't sure. Likewise him with her choice, Aubrey (or should that be Aubrie/Aubree?!). He kept mocking, deliberately saying Audrey by 'mistake'. Then in the rock shop they decided to look for 'inspiration' (otherwise known as TV show content) and Noel looked gleeful when he pointed out there was a Heidi but no Aubrey. Sue's argument was Heidi doesn't end in e. Apparently not a problem according to Noel.

Looking back to the conversations at that time, Sue was really quite against Heidi. Looks like Nowl pushed and pushed until he eventually got his own way.

 

[Honey JuJu]

Read the article and apparently they use 24 bottles of shampoo and conditioner a week.

Also Ophelia's dad isn't in her life. It would be interesting to hear his side of the story.

What an absolute crock of ...24 bottles of shampoo? Why not just go to Costco and buy in bulk?Seriously, she needs to go get her money back because whatever shampoo they use, their hair still looks lank, dank and greasy and Sue’s is like a brillo pad....

 

[Nonyaxx912]

I honestly don't get the fuss about spelling your kids name a different way to the norm? My daughters called Mylie, I purposely chose to spell it different to the usual way of Miley as i didn't want people to automatically think of Miley Cyrus and in my opinion the way iv spelt it looks nicer. 32 weeks pregnant with a boy now & I play around with spellings of names just so to give an otherwise ordinary popular name a more unusual look??

 

[zeebee21]

I’m sure Heidie will change the spelling of her name when she’s older - she’ll get fed up of saying ‘it’s Heidi with an E at the end’ every time she has to say her name over the phone etc.

“Yeah it’s Heidi with an e at the end, like Hei-DIE.. yeah”

 

[HeyGuyth]

I honestly don't get the fuss about spelling your kids name a different way to the norm? My daughters called Mylie, I purposely chose to spell it different to the usual way of Miley as i didn't want people to automatically think of Miley Cyrus and in my opinion the way iv spelt it looks nicer. 32 weeks pregnant with a boy now & I play around with spellings of names just so to give an otherwise ordinary popular name a more unusual look??

That's nice dear

 

[mohawk]

I honestly don't get the fuss about spelling your kids name a different way to the norm? My daughters called Mylie, I purposely chose to spell it different to the usual way of Miley as i didn't want people to automatically think of Miley Cyrus and in my opinion the way iv spelt it looks nicer. 32 weeks pregnant with a boy now & I play around with spellings of names just so to give an otherwise ordinary popular name a more unusual look??

The only thing I will say about names is from my perspective as a teacher of 25 yrs. At school Children are ultra aware when their names are spelt differently than the norm and end up being the Mylie with the 'My' rather than Mylie and this continues throughout life. I had a friend who called her son Kristoffer and he hated it at high school and she was always explaining the spelling. She had another son 9 yrs later and just called him Sam as she didn't want him to go through the same situation. I'm not criticising your choice but explaining it from a school point of view.

 

[AliceInWanderLost]

Obviously they struggled early on that’s why they is Tillie and Millie. I know they said once they had named Katie they realised all of their girls (would have been Sophie, chloe, Millie and Katie) had the e as the last character so they kept it up. Not like if they had named their next child Emma onstead of Ellie would she realise her sisters all had e at the end of their names and feel left out especially if they continued having girls and not using the e ending. Eg used amy instead of Aimee.

i don't get the deal with giving your children such matchy names - especially when it means you can't use names you genuinely love because you're desperately searching for names that match the trend. plus the radfords have so many kids, they could easily have broken that pattern once they noticed it - it's not as though one single girl would be left out with a name with an "e" ending.

or at least select names with an "ee" ending which don't rhyme - like Millie, Ellie and Tillie - or that involve a spelling - Heidie - that will result in constantly being misspelt. if they were intent on following the pattern, there are loads of pretty names ending with an "ee" sound which could avoid the repetition and similar-sounding names - Amelie, Ottilie, Hattie, Aurelie, Effie, Calliope, Indie, Elsie, Posie, Maisie, Trixie, Elodie, Lottie - or names that still have a "ee" sound at the end, but spell them ending with the letter y, which would open up a whole range of name options: Peony, Ivy, Maddy, Everly, Story, Emery, Poppy, Cassidy, Emmy, Rory, Darcy, Betsy, Nancy, Molly, Daisy, Ruby, Lily. and yeah, sure - many of those names may not be to their taste, but it would have opened up far more options and they wouldn't have ended up with so many kids with almost identical names, and maybe given them all a little individuality. in my opinion, the majority of their kids' names are so boring and unimaginative. Max, Casper and Oscar are the only ones with a little spark!

 

[zeebee21]

Tillie and Millie is ridiculous enough, can you imagine a Phoebe (FeeBee) and Evie (EeVee) or Edie (EeDee) in the same house?!

Or Millie and Mollie. Hallie and Hollie?! Chloe and Zoe?! They have a granddaughter Maisie (which rhymes with another granddaughter, Daisy!)

To be honest I see Millie, Tillie, Ellie, and Hallie as all too similar. I thought Rosie would have fit well as they’d mentioned, instead of Rose as a middle name for Heidie but

 

[KTC]

i don't get the deal with giving your children such matchy names - especially when it means you can't use names you genuinely love because you're desperately searching for names that match the trend. plus the radfords have so many kids, they could easily have broken that pattern once they noticed it - it's not as though one single girl would be left out with a name with an "e" ending.

or at least select names with an "ee" ending which don't rhyme - like Millie, Ellie and Tillie - or that involve a spelling - Heidie - that will result in constantly being misspelt. if they were intent on following the pattern, there are loads of pretty names ending with an "ee" sound which could avoid the repetition and similar-sounding names - Amelie, Ottilie, Hattie, Aurelie, Effie, Calliope, Indie, Elsie, Posie, Maisie, Trixie, Elodie, Lottie - or names that still have a "ee" sound at the end, but spell them ending with the letter y, which would open up a whole range of name options: Peony, Ivy, Maddy, Everly, Story, Emery, Poppy, Cassidy, Emmy, Rory, Darcy, Betsy, Nancy, Molly, Daisy, Ruby, Lily. and yeah, sure - many of those names may not be to their taste, but it would have opened up far more options and they wouldn't have ended up with so many kids with almost identical names, and maybe given them all a little individuality. in my opinion, the majority of their kids' names are so boring and unimaginative. Max, Casper and Oscar are the only ones with a little spark!

It's just parents wanting their child to be "unique" or having a connection with their siblings names. I'm afraid spelling your kids name in a funky way to make them stand out will only make them stand out for the wrong reasons in adulthood. People see a name spelt "wrong" and they assume maybe they aren't very well educated or aren't from a well educated family. I'm not saying I think that, but there's been a lot of research on it. It's all for the parent's benefit, not the child's or their future of constantly having to correct everyone. Ridiculous spellings are a fairly new thing. When Heidie's getting a job in 20 years time, they aren't going to look at her CV and go, "Spelt weird, but I know it's a family thing so makes complete sense."

 

[mohawk]

Well Tattlers I normally visit this site to tattle about Big Loz and I've just seen this Radfords thread. How have I missed it?? Every comment I put in the DM never gets printed so now I can happily rant!!

I have always said this family should not be praised for several reasons you already know.

Before I was a teacher I worked in benefits for quite a few years and these people DO RECEIVE BENEFITS. Not universal credit etc, not the conventional sort but they get TAX CREDITS and thousands. And the hundreds of thousands in schooling, healthcare etc

In fact just by using the tax credit calculator and putting a supposed wage for Noel of £50k actual pay he pays himself from his business (yeh right) they will get over £450 a week for the 13 under 19, from who???----------the tax payers ........plus child benefit of almost £10k per year totalling at present almost £30k a year. Remember that is based on Noel paying himself £50k.

Calculate the tax credit by 52, then by let's say 25 yrs and you get well over £1 Million. Yes they didn't have all these kids for all these years but for the vast majority they had at least 16 under the age of 18 children. The eldest is 32 so they've been getting shed loads. I think the DM headline should be 'Radfords claim over a Million in tax credits' people will stop seeing them as 'nice couple and well behaved kids' who rely only on his income.

Does anyone know actually what his business turns over AFTER paying the wages of his employees or what he actually earns? I don't know any baker who takes home £50k so that's a high guess just for the calculator purposes.

According to the DM their food bill is in excess of £400 a week, never mind mortgage, cars, clothing, fuel, utilities etc`. I can't see any bakery owner other than Jonathan Warburton taking enough to cover these costs without help. And that's not accounting for the £7k they spent on Christmas pressies this year, the multiple birthdays, the numerous holidays and hot tub they've just bought. Call me bitter about this. I am haha

 

[Little me.]

Well Tattlers I normally visit this site to tattle about Big Loz and I've just seen this Radfords thread. How have I missed it?? Every comment I put in the DM never gets printed so now I can happily rant!!

I have always said this family should not be praised for several reasons you already know.

Before I was a teacher I worked in benefits for quite a few years and these people DO RECEIVE BENEFITS. Not universal credit etc, not the conventional sort but they get TAX CREDITS and thousands. And the hundreds of thousands in schooling, healthcare etc

In fact just by using the tax credit calculator and putting a supposed wage for Noel of £50k actual pay he pays himself from his business (yeh right) they will get over £450 a week for the 13 under 19, from who???----------the tax payers ........plus child benefit of almost £10k per year totalling at present almost £30k a year. Remember that is based on Noel paying himself £50k.

Calculate the tax credit by 52, then by let's say 25 yrs and you get well over £1 Million. Yes they didn't have all these kids for all these years but for the vast majority they had at least 16 under the age of 18 children. The eldest is 32 so they've been getting shed loads. I think the DM headline should be 'Radfords claim over a Million in tax credits' people will stop seeing them as 'nice couple and well behaved kids' who rely only on his income.

Does anyone know actually what his business turns over AFTER paying the wages of his employees or what he actually earns? I don't know any baker who takes home £50k so that's a high guess just for the calculator purposes.

According to the DM their food bill is in excess of £400 a week, never mind mortgage, cars, clothing, fuel, utilities etc`. I can't see any bakery owner other than Jonathan Warburton taking enough to cover these costs without help. And that's not accounting for the £7k they spent on Christmas pressies this year, the multiple birthdays, the numerous holidays and hot tub they've just bought. Call me bitter about this. I am haha

They will have been milking the system for years. We don’t claim benefits, they see us all as stupid.

 

[Kate1970]

Change of subject! Interested to know if anyone knows how long they've lived in the house?

 

[mohawk]

They will have been milking the system for years. We don’t claim benefits, they see us all as stupid.

But if you read 90% + of quotes from readers in the papers they all think they get by on Noel's wage alone!! It drives me nuts as we, the tax payer, are paying for his kids pressies, their holidays, their hot tub, their life style choices!

 

[shifttea]

Change of subject! Interested to know if anyone knows how long they've lived in the house?

they bought it in 2004 I think

 

[redaf]

Chris’ baby is definitely called Oaklyn. Sophie commented “oh Oaklyn you are so beautiful”

 

[shifttea]

Chris’ baby is definitely called Oaklyn. Sophie commented “oh Oaklyn you are so beautiful”

proof for anyone wondering

 

[scrantonstrangler]

Spelling your kids name different to the normal is what Sophie did with Ayprill and Narlah. She said she didn't want people to associate Ayprill with the month April- but when people hear it out loud they still think April and assume it's spelled April. And then poor Ayprill has to spell it out for people. No hate on unusual names, my kids have got pretty unconventional, very old fashioned rare names that sometimes confuse people. But Ayprill looks like the name of a pharmaceutical drug it sounds like something you'd ask the chemist for to help with your hayfever

The Radfords are terrible at naming. Their middle names are mostly ultra generic and they repeated them multiple times like they couldn't be bothered. They've ignored plenty of good -e or -ie names and basically repeated the same name multiple times. When I first discovered them I wondered how they kept all the girls straight when they basically had variations of the same names!

 

[lastdis]

I honestly don't get the fuss about spelling your kids name a different way to the norm? My daughters called Mylie, I purposely chose to spell it different to the usual way of Miley as i didn't want people to automatically think of Miley Cyrus and in my opinion the way iv spelt it looks nicer. 32 weeks pregnant with a boy now & I play around with spellings of names just so to give an otherwise ordinary popular name a more unusual look??

Because it will be annoying as hell for the kid. One of my sons has a normal middle name but I spelt it the Irish way, every time he has to spell it out.

 

[emmawhu]

To be honest I see Millie, Tillie, Ellie, and Hallie as all too similar. I thought Rosie would have fit well as they’d mentioned, instead of Rose as a middle name for Heidie but

They're all incredibly similar for siblings. The same ee ending 11 times over is bad enough but 4 'llie names is ridiculous! They definitely didn't need any more of those!

I honestly don't get the fuss about spelling your kids name a different way to the norm? My daughters called Mylie, I purposely chose to spell it different to the usual way of Miley as i didn't want people to automatically think of Miley Cyrus and in my opinion the way iv spelt it looks nicer. 32 weeks pregnant with a boy now & I play around with spellings of names just so to give an otherwise ordinary popular name a more unusual look??

You do realise that that 'ordinary popular name' sounds exactly the same when said aloud, regardless of how you spell it? It doesn't make them more unusual, it just sets them up for a lifetime of spelling their name out, or having their name spelt incorrectly.

When I hear Mylie my first thought is Cyrus regardless of how it's spelt, because my ears don't realise upon hearing you that spelt it differently to avoid this. Just like I automatically think of the month April when I hear Ayprill, despite Sophie butchering the spelling to try and avoid this.

Lily-May, Lilly-Mae, Lillie-Mai, Lili-Maeh, Lileigh-Maee, Llyllee-Maih etc, spell it however hideously you like it sounds exactly the same when said aloud! They'll still be known by their first name and initial if they end up in a class with others, regardless of how they're all spelt.

 

[Shinealight]

It's just parents wanting their child to be "unique" or having a connection with their siblings names. I'm afraid spelling your kids name in a funky way to make them stand out will only make them stand out for the wrong reasons in adulthood. People see a name spelt "wrong" and they assume maybe they aren't very well educated or aren't from a well educated family. I'm not saying I think that, but there's been a lot of research on it. It's all for the parent's benefit, not the child's or their future of constantly having to correct everyone. Ridiculous spellings are a fairly new thing. When Heidie's getting a job in 20 years time, they aren't going to look at her CV and go, "Spelt weird, but I know it's a family thing so makes complete sense."

Indeed, when I heard my niece had called her baby girl Eloise I was thrilled as I love the name.
Until I saw how she wrote it as Ellouise!!!
She’s massacred the spelling