Stacey Solomon explains why she leaves Joe Swash's son out of family photos

Any parents raising children in 'blended families' will be well aware that life can often feel far from smooth sailing.

Deciding which house the children will predominantly stay at, who gets them for the holidays, what happens when someone wants to move away - all of these are difficult conversations to have, especially with an ex-partner.

You can only imagine how much harder this must be for individuals who are raising their children in the public eye, with colossal followings criticising your every decision.

And no one knows that more than X Factor star Stacey Solomon, who last year opened up on some of the abuse she has received about her parenting decisions.

Stacey, 34, has been married to former EastEnders star Joe Swash, 42, since their gorgeous ceremony at home (Pickle Cottage, obvs) in July 2022.

Together they share son Rex, five, Rose, two, and Belle, one.

She is also mum to Zachary, 16, and Leighton, 11, from previous relationships.

Joe is also dad to son Harry, 17, who he shares with ex Emma Sophocleous.

However, the teen very rarely appears on social media.

As such, Stacey has been the target of some confusion from fans for ‘missing out’ an important person from her social media snaps recently, having not included Harry in several family pictures.

Stacey Solomon is a mum-of-five. (Instagram/@staceysolomon)

In one particularly trying incident last year, after she recently posted a cute mirror selfie with her brood - captioned: "So happy to be back from Scotland. Had a lovely lazy morning with this lot!"

However, one user commented: “Is it just me or does Joe’s other boy never in photos.”

Another wrote: “Was thinking the same thing.”

While a third added: “I always think that, he’s never on any of the family photos.”

It seems as though there is a very good reason for this as Stacey has previously spoken about respecting Harry’s mum’s wishes.

In 2019, she opened up on her Instagram Story, saying: “I get these comments quite a lot, asking about all of our children in my photos.

“Unfortunately it’s not something I’m able to do, otherwise I’d do it all the time. All the kids are a massive part of our lives, obviously.

"And we love them all equally and adore them and, behind the scenes, they’re very much on every stocking, in every book, in every photo.

She regularly shares family updates on social media. (Instagram/@staceysolomon)

“But publicly that’s not something that I can do and I totally respect that. We respect everyone’s wishes, we’re a blended family and sometimes that’s a bit more complicated than it seems.”

Fans have also come to Stacey's defence, with one writing: “His mother doesn’t want him in photos so Stacey respects that.”

Joe does occasionally feature Harry on his Instagram, such as a heart-warming video of the pair ice skating back in December 2021.