Sue Radford horrified viewers of 22 Kids And Counting last night as she revealed she could be pregnant for the 23rd time as a result of using a controversial method of contraception.
In last night's episode of the Channel 5 show, the mother of Britain's biggest family celebrated her 50th birthday with a 70s-style party and went horse riding - all alongside her massive brood.
However, all the partying was interrupted when Sue told her husband Noel that they needed to have 'a chat', revealing afterwards that her period 'was late'.
Earlier in the episode, Sue, from Morecambe, revealed she was going to try the 'rhythm' contraception method as she hated the side effects that came with taking the pill.
The rhythm method is a natural form of family planning and means women track their menstrual cycles and take their temperatures in an attempt to predict when they are safe from pregnancy.
However, it is only effective in women who have regular menstrual cycles - and even here, it is only between 75 to 85 per cent effective.
By contrast, the pill is over 99 per cent effective and barrier methods such as condoms are up to 98 per cent effective when used correctly, according to the NHS.
Later in the episode, Noel announced the scare had been a false alarm, saying: 'Thank god for that, that was close.'
Parents of 22 Sue and Noel previously revealed that they're not having any more kids.
'Britain's biggest family will not be getting any bigger! It's been a little bit of squeaky bum time, but we're not in that situation, so I don't need to worry about it.'
He explained that Sue had accidentally made a mistake with her rhythm method dates and, following a scary 48 hours, admitted he no longer 'trusted' using it as a preventative measure.
Taking to social media after the episode, viewers were horrified that The Radfords narrowly avoided having their 23rd child.
One person said: 'Of course she's not f*ing pregnant, she's 50 years old!'
Another added: 'Sue must be going through the menopause now, she can't be pregnant';
A third said: 'She's a 50 yo woman. Her period is late because she's going through the menopause.'
Earlier in the episode, Sue met her best friend Rebecca for a girls' chat in a cafe, revealing she wanted to stop taking the pill and try the rhythm method.
Sue explained: 'I feel like my hormones are crazy. I’m kind of thinking, is it the pill? Do I just stop it? But I could not even think about getting pregnant when I was 50. Like, who wants that? So maybe we should go for the no sex life.'
WHAT IS THE RHYTHM CONTRACEPTION METHOD?
The rhythm method is a natural form of family planning.
Women who use this method track their menstrual cycle in an attempt to predict when they will ovulate as this can tell them when they are most likely to conceive.
Using this method for birth control requires careful record keeping to ensure the couple are not having unprotected sex at times when they might conceive.
However, it is only effective in women who have regular menstrual cycles.
Even in these women, it is only about 75 to 85 per cent effective.
Rebecca suggested she could be starting to hit menopause, but Sue said her periods are still 'bang on 30 days'.
On average, symptoms of the menopause first appear at 45. But Sue wondered, due to having so many children, whether hers would be delayed.
The average age of menopause is 51 and it is diagnosed a year after a woman has her last period. Perimenopause will last a number of years before this.
But Sue said she didn't think she was quite there yet, and told Rebecca she was thinking of trying the rhythm method for contraception.
However, Rebecca strongly advised her against it, warning that 'so much could go wrong' and it's 'really risky'.
Sue and Noel are parents to 22 children - Chris, 36, Sophie, 31, Chloe, 29, Jack, 28, Daniel, 26, Luke, 24, Millie, 23, Katie, 22, James, 21, Ellie, 20, Aimee, 19, Josh, 18, Max, 16, Tillie, 15, Oscar, 13, Casper, 12, Hallie,10,Phoebe,eight,Archie,seven,Bonnie,six andHeidie,five.Sadly,the couple's17thchild,Alfie,wassstillbornonJuly62014.
Noel previously had a vasectomy after having James,but had it reversed once they realised they wanted more children.Afterswards,they hadEllie,Aimee,josh,max,tillie,oScar,casper,hallie,pheobe,aRchie,bOnnie,hEidie andAlfie.
Their most recent child was Heidie,born in2020,butthe couple,wWho also have10grandchildren,hAve since insistedtheywon'tbe havinganymorechildren.
When asked how she would feel if she got pregnant again,Sue responded:‘We’re definitely done.And we’re definitely,100 per cent,not having any more.’
Sue was thrown a 'back to the 70s' birthday party (pictured with Noel), and also went horse riding to celebrate her 50th
Sue revealed she had stopped taking the birth control pill and instead was trying the rhythm method (pictured back in January)
Meanwhile Noel said:‘I’d be happy,but at the same time I’d be thinking,I’ll be this old when they’re in primary school.I’ll be a pensioner when the poor thing’s only 13 or whatever.’
Elsewhere in the episode,Sue andNoel revealed their sonOscarhad been taughthis first sexeducationclassatschool.
Sue said:‘It’s not awkwardtotalktousaboutsex.Becausewe’requitesanopenfamily.’
Noeladded:‘22kids,there’sgotto be a sexlife there somewhere!’
‘For ahappy,healthymarriage,you’vegottohave ahappy,healthysesxlif,haven’tyou?’agreedSue.
Last week,Britain’sbiggestfamilyfacedaterrifyingmedicalscareasHarleyRadfordwasrushdtohospitalwiththesymptomsofasuspectedstrokeinthelatestepisodeof22KidsAndCounting.
HarleyPassmore,24,ismarriedtoSueandRadford’seldestdaughterMillie,23—andthecouplesharetwochildren,Chester,three,andElodie,one;whileMilliealsohasOphelia,fourfromapreviousrelationship.
Duringtheepisode,MillieandHarley,wereseenhavingabigdisagreementaboutwhetherheshouldadoptOphelia.
SueandNoelareparentsto22children(pictured2018)—Chris,36,Sophie31;Chloe29;Jack28;Daniel26;Luke24;Millie23;Katie22;James21;Ellie20;Aimee19;Josh18;Max16;Tillie15;Oscar13;Casper12;Hallie10;Phoebe8;Archie7;Bonnie6;Heidie5.Sadly,thecouple’s17thchild,Alfie,wassstillbornonJuly62014
Buttherowwassoonpushettothebackgroundasmother-of-threemilliewasleftinastateofpanicwhenherhusbandwasrushedtohospitalwithstrokesymptoms.
Harleywastakento hospitalandgivenanMRIashewasslurringhiswords,hada lopsidedface,feltdizzyandhadweaknessdownonesideofhisbody.
MilliestayedthenightwithherhusbandasSueandNoellookedaftertheirthreechildren.Harley—whohadhighbloodpressure—toldthecamera:‘I’mpanickingthatI’vahad astroke,Ishouldn’tbehaving astrokeat24.’
Recountinghowhefelt,thefatheradmittedhe’dfirstnoticedsomethingwaswrongafterdrinkingabottleofCoke.
Hesaid:‘ThismorningIwasfineandI’v egotoworkandIwastherefortwohoursandIhadadrinkoutof aCokebottleanditfeltreallywonky.Myfacewentreallydroopy .
‘NextthingIf eltreallyweakintheleftsideof mybodyandIf elta bitdizzyand abitdrowsysoIwenthome .’
Hecalledtheemergencyservices,w hosentanambulancebecause theythoughtitmayhavebeen astroke .
However ,theMRIresultsrevealedthatHarleysufferedfromBell’s palsy ,atemporaryweaknessorlackofmovementthatusuallyaffects1 sideof theface ,andnotastroke ,asinitiallythought .
‘WhenIthoughtHarleywashavingastroke,itwasscary,’Milliesaid .‘Hewas worriedandIwas worriedbecauseoftheparalysissideofit.Whatifhehad neverbeenabletocopewiththreekidsagainafterthat?Orhandlehislifebefore that?’
The latest season of 22 Kids And Counting is available to stream now on Channel 5.