Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash have announced they are leaving their beloved £1.3million Pickle Cottage after several years of memories, revealing they are preparing to move into a much larger property that will give their growing family and collection of animals more room to flourish.

The couple confirmed on Wednesday that they have sold their famous Essex home, which has been at the heart of their family life since they moved there in 2021.

For Stacey, 36, the decision has been far from simple.

Pickle Cottage quickly became much more than a house for the couple and their children. It was the place where Stacey gave birth to daughters Rose and Belle, where she and Joe were married, and where their family built countless memories together.

The property also became familiar to millions of fans through Stacey and Joe’s reality television series, making their decision to leave an emotional one for both the couple and viewers who have followed their life there.

In an emotional Instagram video, Stacey admitted she never imagined the day would come when she would have to say goodbye to the home she had lovingly transformed.

“We are leaving and moving out of Pickle Cottage imminently, which I never thought I’d say,” she explained.

The couple had deliberately kept the move private for some time, with Stacey revealing that there were a number of people they needed to speak to before they could make the announcement publicly.

Leaving also meant preparing their children and those around them for a major change.

“Leaving Pickle Cottage was a massive decision for us,” Stacey explained, saying they had to speak to their children, friends and neighbours before revealing what was happening.

Rather than rushing into the sale, the couple waited until they found someone they believed would truly appreciate the special property.

“We have just waited until someone amazing came along and fell in love with the cottage,” Stacey said.

Her words made clear that selling the property was not motivated by a lack of affection for the home.

Quite the opposite.

Stacey described Pickle Cottage as their “dream house” and admitted that she still loves it deeply.

“As soon as we moved here we fell in love with it and I still love it so, so much,” she said.

The home has a particularly emotional significance because it has witnessed some of the family’s biggest milestones.

Stacey gave birth to both of her daughters there, while she and Joe exchanged wedding vows on the grounds in 2022.

For that reason, leaving the property represents much more than simply moving from one address to another.

“It’s a really special place to us,” Stacey said.

But as the couple’s family has grown, so too have their ambitions for the future.

Stacey and Joe are parents to Rex, seven, Rose, four, and Belle, three.

Stacey is also mum to Zachary, 18, and Leighton, 14, while Joe has a 19-year-old son, Harry, from a previous relationship.

With such a large blended family, the couple increasingly wanted somewhere that could accommodate everyone while also allowing them to pursue another of Stacey’s biggest passions: caring for animals and growing their own food.

The television personality has frequently shared her enthusiasm for gardening, DIY and creating a home that feels personal rather than polished for the sake of appearances.

She explained that she and Joe had always talked about what they would do if they ever had the opportunity to acquire more land.

For Stacey, that dream involved creating larger vegetable patches, rescuing animals and potentially bringing horses and ponies back into their lives.

“For a little while we have always wanted to rescue more animals, grow more vegetables,” she explained.

The possibility became real when they discovered another property.

Stacey immediately began imagining what could be done with the additional space.

“We could have a massive vegetable patch and we could offer our land to animals who need it,” she said.

She also pictured being able to bring horses and ponies back to the property.

After viewing the home, the couple quickly fell in love.

Yet even with the excitement of their new beginning, Stacey acknowledged that it was difficult to walk away from everything they had created at Pickle Cottage.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” she admitted.

“We built our lives together at Pickle Cottage.”

Ultimately, however, the couple felt that their new home offered something Pickle Cottage could no longer provide: the opportunity to build an even bigger future for their family.

They now believe the new property will give their children and animals space to grow while allowing Stacey to embark on another enormous renovation project.

Joe, 44, appears to have accepted that his wife will once again have plenty of work ahead of her.

Stacey has become known for her love of DIY and her willingness to tackle ambitious home projects herself, meaning the new property is unlikely to remain in its current state for long.

“It’s a project,” Stacey explained.

“We’re moving somewhere really, really different and it does need a lot of love and I’m excited to do that all again.”

The comment suggests that fans could soon see Stacey transforming another property from the ground up.

Her approach to interiors has always been strongly connected to creating a home that feels comfortable and meaningful rather than following strict design rules.

In a previous interview with House Beautiful magazine, Stacey spoke passionately about the idea that people should be free to decorate their homes however they choose.

When asked whether there was a particular design trend she would never embrace, Stacey rejected the idea that there should be rigid rules surrounding how people decorate.

She said she disliked the tendency for people to judge other people’s homes based on whether they were colourful enough, too garish or simply different from their own taste.

“I don’t think there’s such a thing,” she said.

Stacey argued that a home belongs to the people who live there and should reflect their individual personalities and needs.

“It might not be your style and it might not be your taste, but it’s not your house,” she explained.

Her philosophy appears to have shaped Pickle Cottage, which became known for its colourful, personal and often playful interiors.

Rather than creating a perfectly styled property designed to impress visitors, Stacey has consistently focused on making spaces work for her family.

She believes a home should provide emotional support and comfort, as well as being practical.

“I feel passionately about people judging other people’s spaces,” she said.

“You live in that space. It has to support you in so many ways, whether that’s emotionally or through comfort.”

That attitude is likely to be particularly important as the family prepares to leave behind the property that became synonymous with their lives over the last several years.

Stacey and Joe first met while appearing on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2010, beginning a relationship that would eventually see them create a large blended family together.

Their wedding at Pickle Cottage in 2022 made the Essex property even more significant, turning the place into the setting for one of the most important days of their lives.

Now, however, the couple are preparing to close that chapter.

Stacey admitted that saying goodbye feels strange, but she is also looking forward to what comes next.

“So it’s time to say goodbye to Pickle Cottage, which feels so weird, and basically move across to our new chapter,” she said.

The phrase “new chapter” appears to capture exactly what the move means for the family.

They are not leaving because they have fallen out of love with their old home. Instead, they are choosing to move because their lives have evolved.

With seven-year-old Rex, four-year-old Rose and three-year-old Belle growing up alongside their older siblings Zachary, Leighton and Harry, the family’s needs have changed considerably since they first arrived at Pickle Cottage.

The new property could therefore become a place where the family creates an entirely different set of memories.

For Stacey in particular, the prospect of more land appears to be one of the biggest attractions.

Her plans for expansive vegetable patches, rescued animals, horses and ponies suggest that the new home could eventually become another highly personal project.

And given her enthusiasm for DIY, it seems unlikely that fans will have to wait long before they begin seeing the transformation.

For now, though, there is the emotional task of leaving Pickle Cottage behind.

After four years of family milestones, birthdays, renovations and everyday life, the property will always hold a unique place in Stacey and Joe’s story.

But as the couple prepare to move into a home that needs “a lot of love”, Stacey appears ready to embrace the challenge.

The £1.3million cottage may have been their dream home, but their latest decision suggests their definition of the dream has simply grown along with their family.

And if Stacey’s past transformations are anything to go by, the next chapter could see another once-unloved property turned into a home filled with colour, character, animals, vegetables and, above all, family memories.