The well-known Radford family have been on screens for years, sharing glimpses into life as Britain’s biggest family in Channel 5’s 22 Kids and Counting.
The latest episode, which aired on Sunday, August 17, saw further drama unfolding within the family, but sceptical viewers went on to label the episode “scripted”.
Now in its seventh series, parents Sue and Noel now also have several grandchildren to contend with, and the show follows several of the older children as they navigate their own marriages.
Sunday night’s episode focused on Millie and her husband Harley Passmore. While the couple had recently tied the knot, things weren’t all rosy for the newlyweds.
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The episode showed the pair arguing as a distance built up between them over a significant disagreement.
While the husband and wife share two children, Chester, three, and Elodie, 22 months, Millie is also has a daughter, four-year-old daughter Ophelia, from a previous relationship.
The two explained during Channel 5’s latest visit to the Radford family that Ophelia’s dad had never been in the picture and how Harley had recently asked to adopt her.
However, Millie was reluctant to grant her husband permission, citing concerns over talking to her daughter about her biological father.
At one point during the episode, Harley stormed away from a family day out with Chester, causing Millie to worry about where her husband and son were.
She later explained to cameras she felt the move was Harley’s way of suggesting if Ophelia is “hers,” Chester is “his”.
As the disagreement continued, the next update came when Millie called her parents to shares the news Harley had been rushed to hospital with stroke-like symptoms.
He was kept in for the night but thankfully it turned out he hadn’t had a stroke. He was later diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a temporary condition causing sudden weakness on one side of the face.
Following the frightening ordeal, Millie changed her mind about allowing Harley to adopt Ophelia, explaining the incident had been a wake up call.
However, another twist came when the couple found out the adoption process would be long and painful, with the couple having to reach out to Ophelia’s biological father.
Eventually they found a way around this, with a slightly different path allowing Harley to be Ophelia’s legal step father but remain off the birth certificate.
While the 24-year-old accepted this at the time and went though with the process, he later contacted Millie’s ex behind her back, revealing to the cameras he was determined to be on Ophelia’s birth certificate before the episode concluded.
The theatrics of the instalment prompted many viewers to speculate the show was “scripted,” with some switching off.
Expressing their annoyance on social media, one penned: “The scripts on this show gets worse each week #22kidsandcounting.”
“All made up just for the show,” another agreed, while someone else added: “Used to love this show but so much of it is set up now its ruined it.”
“Used to be great to watch and now it’s so staged. Can’t watch it anymore,” someone else echoed.
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Responding, another X user added: “My exact thoughts. I don’t know how others can’t see how fake this is.”
“I stopped watching this show because it is SO scripted. It’s more like Kardashians version these days,” another quipped.
“Tell TV cameras before your wife, seems normal. And next week we will cause drama by letting everyone think Sue is pregnant #22kidsandcounting,” one disgruntled viewer posted.
However, others maintained a more positive view of the show, with another fan commenting: “Harley is such a nice bloke #22kidsandcounting,” and another adding: “Love this.” (sic)