How Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash are Essex’s answer to ‘Posh and Becks’: All the similarities between the two power couples who both embrace rural life and juggle business empires

David and Victoria Beckham‘s picture perfect lives are the envy of many – with the power couple seemingly having it all.

Living in a stunning, sprawling estate in the Cotswolds surrounded by fields of allotments, beehives and chickens the pair enjoy a wholesome daily life away from their regular glitzy work events.

And while this enviable lifestyle is unobtainable for most, another power couple – Joe Swash and his wife Stacey Solomon – offer their fans an arguably more obtainable version of the Beckhams’ lives.

The similarities between the two families are endless, albeit on fairly different budgets, from their countryside abodes, love of animals, beekeeping and cooking.

So here MailOnline takes a look at how Joe and Stacey are quickly becoming Essex’s answer to Posh and Becks:

Country abodes 

While the Beckhams mostly reside in their Cotswolds estate, Stacey and Joe are chasing a similar dream at their £1.2million Pickle Cottage in Essex. 

The TV couple bought the home in March 2021 and Stacey has already bought ducklings for the sprawling grounds and plans to become a beekeeper with Joe.

Pickle Cottage honey could be on the cards one day as well as selling eggs from their home. 

Stacey also wants to plant more wildflowers for the bees to collect nectar from as she transforms the space for her family.

Stacey has five children and shares three of them with her husband Joe. The Sort Your Life Out host is mum to Zachary, 16, Leighton, 12, Rex, five, Rose, three and two-year-old Belle.

She welcomed her first son, Zachary, when she was 17 with her childhood sweetheart Dean Cox. Four years later, Stacey welcomed Leighton with her ex-fiancé Aaron Barnham.

In 2021 Stacey revealed that she and Joe had found their ‘forever home’, after spending ‘a long time’ house hunting.

The plush abode features stunning Tudor-style beams, a library, a cosy country kitchen and 2.5 acres for her boys to enjoy.

Pictures uploaded by the star give a further glimpse inside the property, which has plenty of room for the couple and their boys to roam around.

At the heart of the home is a cosy country kitchen with dark wooden beams, wooden cabinets and a green Aga oven.

Over on to the outside, there is ample space in the garden for their boys to play around in, which 2.5 acres of land. 

Plus there’s an added bonus of a swimming pool, of which Stacey noted that she wanted to make child-friendly.

Meanwhile the Beckhams have also found their own slice of countryside heaven in the Cotswolds. 

Viewers got an glimpse into the Soho Farmhouse-inspired home as part of their 2023 Netflix docuseries Beckham – where the couple showed off their very expensive taste and eye for classic designers, hardwood flooring and exposed brick walls.

The couple, who share children kids Brooklyn, 26, Romeo, 22, Cruz, 20, and Harper, 13, snapped up their country retreat for a reported £6.15 million in December 2016.

After the Beckhams’ improvements, the property boasts a sauna, plunge pool, football pitch, gym, swimming pool and £50,000 safari tent in the grounds for entertaining. It is now thought to be worth about £12 million. 

‘This is such a step away from any kind of footballer’s home cliché, it’s beautifully curated, smart and yet not flashy,’ interiors expert Benji Lewis has previously told MailOnline.

Big broods 

Stacey has five kids who have plenty of room to roam around Pickle Cottage, while the Beckhams have four kids, with the family often spending time all together.

Earlier this year Joe got candid about their home life in an interview, as he admitted bringing up their six children can be ‘really difficult’ sometimes.

The TV personality, 42, revealed that apart from helping hands from both of their parents, they are raising the youngsters unaided. 

Opening up on what parenthood is like without much outside help, the presenter told Essex Life Magazine: ‘It can be really difficult. But we try to make as much effort as possible to take them out as much as we can. 

‘We work really hard so we can spend as much time with our kids as possible.’

Joe added: ‘They’re not going to be kids forever, so we just try to make as many memories for them as possible.’

Victoria has revealed she also struggled to balance motherhood and her career when her children were younger.

The singer and fashion designer, 50, also admitted her and her husband David ‘didn’t have much of a social life ‘ when they were raising their family.

In the interview with Nicole Kidman for Vogue Australia, published last August Victoria said that she struggled to find the right balance and said that her and her footballer husband didn’t rely on staff to raise their children.

The former Spice Girl explained that while the family had nannies and their parents to help with childcare, she still felt like she was having to juggle different commitments while trying to be the best mother she could. 

She explained that she had felt a lot of pressure to be the best mother, wife, and have still have a successful career.

She said: ‘We’ve never had an enormous amount of staff, if you like. We do have nannies and we do have our parents, who have been amazing. But you do feel like you’re juggling. 

‘You’re trying to be the best wife, the best mum, the best professional. We didn’t have much of a social life when the children were younger, that is just that one thing too much’

But the former singer said that as her children fly the nest, she and David ‘are in the next chapter’ and have shifted their focus.

TV documentaries 

Stacey recently confirmed that she and Joe have filmed a reality show focused on their family life.

Following reports that they were filming a ‘Kardashian-style’ series at their beloved Pickle Cottage, the Sort Your Life Out star, 35, took to Instagram on New Year’s Day to officially announce the news.

Sharing a sweet trailer to promote the series, the clip featured Stacey and Joe’s children playing in the garden of their £1.2 million Essex home, alongside their dogs Teddy and Peanut, and her ducks Daisy and Delilah.

The show, titled Stacey & Joe, will air on the BBC later this year, with an air date yet to be announced.

Stacey wrote: ‘A new year. A very new adventure. Coming Spring 2025. We’ve been so nervous & excited to share this. Here is us. All of us.

‘In 2024 we opened up our home & made a series about our lives, family, work & everything in between.

‘It was a huge leap into the unknown & it’s been an absolute whirlwind making it. But last year as a family we decided to say yes to more & do things we’d never done.

‘We have spoken about making a documentary for a long time, lots of you have asked too. So here we go. A journey with us every second of the way.

‘Through the laughter the tears & the craziness… We hope it makes you smile, feel good & hopefully enjoy getting to know us all a little more.’

While in 2023 the Beckhams released their tell-all series Beckham which focused on David’s career and giving a rare glimpse at their family life.  

Beehive passions

Large glass doors at the Beckhams’ Cotswolds house open out onto the fantastic lawn where David keeps his bees and produces his own honey.

The farmhouse was their weekend getaway and was converted into a huge family home after extensive renovations.

They even had the help of Marcus Barnett, a three-time Chelsea Flower Show winner, who transformed their garden into a beautiful fairytale oasis.

Their countryside retreat had become a safe haven for them at weekends, away from the hustle and bustle of their £25 million West London mansion. 

Back in January David got back to his homesteading after Christmas as he took to packaging up his homemade honey.

Once cheekily dubbed his ‘sticky stuff’ by wife Victoria, David has been collecting his ‘Golden Beez’ honey at their Cotswolds family home since lockdown. 

Taking to Instagram, David shared a clip of himself decanting some freshly harvested golden liquid into an own-branded jar, as well as a huge chunk of honeycomb. 

The former footballer, 49, smiled at the camera as he sat in his rustic kitchen preparing his jars of honey – after it was reported last year he is planning to sell it.

Supporting her husband’s venture back in 2022, Spice Girl Victoria, 50, made a racy joke as she narrated a clip of David collecting his honey.

‘So, I’ve got the sticky stuff,’ she said. ‘Just gonna go and sample it, let you know what David’s sticky stuff tastes like.’ 

Meanwhile, Stacey has ambitions for her and Joe to be beekeepers.

An insider told Closer this week: ‘Now they’re getting bees and she’s so excited about becoming a beekeeper and making her own honey. There will definitely be a range of Pickle Cottage honey along with eggs as the start of her new venture.’ 

Rural animals 

Stacey revealed the addition of two ducklings to her family on Instagram last June, as she shared a video of two of her children Rex, five, and Rose, two, cuddling them while she asked fans for name ideas.

She wrote: ‘Welcome To Pickle Cottage Little Ones. We are so excited to love you & we hope you love living here & being a part of our crazy family. We have no idea what to call our new babies yet, so any suggestions welcome.

‘Honestly wanted to make our garden home to ducklings for so long so thank you @luisazissman from giving us the opportunity to raise your hatchlings.’

Days later, Stacey issued an update on her duckling journey, as she shared a video of her and Rex building a play pen for them.

‘Duckling DIY,’ she said. ‘I think they LOVE their new play pen. Honestly the way they zoomed around as soon as I put them in.

‘I Decided to make a duck run today (with the help of Rexy)! They have been growing rapidly so before I finish their outdoor area & they’re allowed outside I thought I’d make them a run.’

While David has made his love of his beloved chickens clear on his Instagram. 

The former footballer was gifted the birds as a Christmas present by his wife and has since set up a hen pen for the new animals on their sprawling estate. 

Victoria treated her husband to the chicken coop after he adopted a keen interest in beekeeping at the rural property. 

The fashion designer and former Spice Girl showed off the brood of Beckham hens complete with cockerel on Instagram.

Sharing video with Instagram followers, she wrote: ‘What did you get for Christmas David?

‘Some chickens and a cockerel, the retired footballer replied as his wife continued: ‘Beckham’s chickens’.

She added: ‘There’s also a really massive cock in there as well’ before she branded their new feathered friends ‘camera shy’.

Cooking sensations 

In the Beckham documentary the pair showed rustic Cotswolds kitchen which is renovated from head to toe, with chic dark grey cupboards complete with gold handles and concealed fridge.

Completing the country aesthetic there is a black double-fronted AGA -costing around £10,000 –  as well as traditional pizza oven, which is estimated to cost about £1,000.

A huge pile of firewood ready for the family to rustle up the Italian dish.

They cook in swanky copper pans that hang from the large rack and clean up with designer Daylesford White Stripe Tea Towels (at £7.50 per towel) from it’s namesake and nearby village.

David also shares lots of cooking videos on his Instagram, with him and Harper often whipping things up in the kitchen together.

And Joe is reportedly taking after David by having cookery lessons and cooking wholesome meals for the family. 

Savvy business 

Stacey’s incredible earnings are only set to increase after she announced she and her family were embarking on a new Kardashian style reality show.

The TV personality has built an empire since first appearing on X Factor back in 2009, resulting in her raking in an eye-popping £58K a week in 2023.

As well as her presenting gigs, including BBC’s Sort Your Life Out, Stacey also earns £15K for sponsored social media post, according to The Mirror. 

The mother-of-five also co-owns haircare brand REHAB and announced last year she releasing a fragrance named after daughters Rose, three, and Belle, 23-months.

Speaking about the risk of the new venture she told followers in December: ‘I’m really, really excited about it. I am also super nervous about it, because I’ve let go of a lot of things this year and moving into next year that are like guaranteed income that I won’t have next year, and none of this project is guaranteed to be successful in any way’.

Stacey now has £4.3m in cash and assets for the year to the end of June 2023 – up from £2.9m in 2022.

Annual accounts for her firm Key Map Entertainments Ltd – according to the Mirror – show she added an £800,000 investment to package taking its value to £2.2m in 2023.

Stacey runs a firm to take in cash from her TV work, ad tie-ins and media appearances. 

Records at Companies House show that her Key Map Entertainments Limited was valued at £1,373,245. In 2019, the firm was worth £888,763.

Stacey married her EastEnders star husband Joe Swash, 42, in June 2022 and they reside at a £1.2m Essex home, affectionately named Pickle Cottage, with their three children and her two son’s from previous relationships.

She has also collaborated on fashion projects with Primark and In The Style and partnered with Amazon for her own range on their Handmade Products Store.

While Victoria and David have various businesses, clothing and beauty lines.