Joe Swash says Stacey Solomon 'saved him' as he opens up about custody battle
13 July 2023, 09:53 | Updated: 13 July 2023, 10:02
Stacey Solomon cries as she watches Joe Swash's documentary
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EastEnders star Joe Swash has opened up about going through a tough custody battle when his son was young.
Joe Swash opened up about going through his ‘lowest moments’ while battling for custody of his eldest son Harry.
The EastEnders star shares his son Harry, 16, with his former partner Emma Sophocleous, while he is also dad to Rex, four, Rose, one, and baby Belle with wife Stacey Solomon.
Joe told Fabulous magazine: "When the cameras were off, I was in a mess.
“I’d shut myself in my flat and not talk to anyone. I wouldn’t answer the phone, even though I knew my mum was really anxious about me.”
The dad-of-three added that his lowest point was “not being able to see Harry [and] not being able to be the dad I wanted to be.”
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Joe tragically lost his own dad Ricky from an undiagnosed heart condition when he was just 11-years-old.
He continued: “I think, above everything else, more than acting or TV work, I’d always wanted a family and I thought: ‘I’m never going to have that.’
“It made me think about my dad. And all that sadness you keep locked away comes back on top of it all. It was a really bad time and it went on for years.”
Luckily, Joe has now said he’s happier than ever with Stacey and their family, and sometimes feels ‘guilty’ about how great his life is.
As well as the two children she shares with Joe, Stacey is mum to Zachary, 15, and Leighton, 11, from previous relationships.
The couple have been renovating their dream home in Essex which they’ve nicknamed ‘Pickle Cottage’, where the pair also tied the knot back in July last year.
“I truly believe Stacey was an angel sent to me by my dad to bring me out of real darkness in my life,” Joe said.
He added: “She’s so funny, so real and so lovely. I know she was sent to me, I knew it when I met her. I knew she was the only woman for me.
“If I hadn’t met her, everything would have been very different. I don’t know what would have happened to me.”
