Exclusive: Joe Swash reveals 'horrible' dad guilt at home with wife Stacey Solomon and five kids

Raising five children is no mean feat but it's a task Joe Swash takes on with pride. The Stacey & Joe star is a doting father to Rex, Rose, and Belle with his wife Stacey Solomon, 35, and a stepfather to her sons Zachary and Leighton. As the former EastEnders star, 42, partners with HelloFresh, he opened up to HELLO! about facing "horrible" dad guilt as a working father and the heartwarming trick he has for conquering it.

"It is really difficult. Sometimes I have to go away for work for a couple of weeks at a time and it's just horrible because the kids don't want you to be away," Joe tells us.

"You know you've got to do it, you do it for the right reasons, but it doesn't help in your head. You always feel guilty." The relatable battle Joe faces is soothed by the cutest tradition.

"I just finished doing panto and my little Rex must have been up there about eight or nine times to come and stay with me in the dressing room," the star admits. "Whenever I do get a chance to involve the kids, that does help with the guilt."

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Connecting with the kids

Spend a short amount of time chatting with Joe and you will quickly understand the family man he is. The actor, who stars in the new reality TV show Stacey & Joe premiering this spring, uses dinner as a time to connect with his Sort Your Life Out star wife and their brood. This time of day is made even easier, Joe says, with the help of HelloFresh.

Joe explains: "We've got five kids in the house, so they can each pick a meal one day of the week. When the kids take a bit of ownership of what they're eating, they're more likely to eat these things."

The celebrity dad, who also shares 17-year-old son Harry with ex-partner Emma Sophocleous, explains that four-year-old Rex will help him in the kitchen making his favourite sausage and mash while Stacey and Zachary, 16, love a fish dish.

Joe also readily admits to being a messy cook so the more minimal the tools and ingredients, the better. In the wake of Christmas chaos, Stacey and Joe set routines with their children including bed by 7.30 pm for the younger kids and 10 pm for the older ones. They also operate a no-phones-at-the-table rule.

"As soon as you have a phone, that is it, you lose that person for that 20 minutes. Me and Stacey find that if we put the phones down and get the kids around the table we then get a lot out of them," he explains.

"We can start up real conversations. They let their guard down slightly and start telling us things they usually couldn't be bothered to. We use dinner time as a way to find out how the kids are."

The time with the kids after dinner time is Joe's favourite: "From about 6:00 pm to about 7:30 pm, I'll get on the sofa with all the kids and watch a programme. That's my happy safe spot."

Joe's bond with son Harry

Though he appears less on Joe's social media, the star speaks fondly of the connection he shares with his son Harry, especially as the pair share a passion.

"He loves musical theatre, he loves acting," Joe says, reflecting on how he welcomed his son into his talent agency for a day of work experience last summer. "He's doing performing arts in college and sixth form. I think it's a great hobby to get into even if you don't make it as a career, it's so good for building confidence."

As for whether the younger children will follow their father into showbiz, that is yet to be seen. "All we're going to do as parents is be behind them whatever they want to do, encourage them and steer them in the right direction. If they do want to be part of it, we'll tell them the highs and the lows and let them make their own decisions," he says.

Raising three under six

For now, Joe and Stacey have a lot to be proud of as their three youngest reach numerous childhood milestones. While Belle, two, is going to nursery and chatting away, Rose's personality flourishes by the day.

"Rosie is hilarious. She's definitely in charge," Joe jokes. "She's such a young lady, she's so good with Belle. She's like a little mum, she's always trying to help and feed her."

"Watching Rosie's relationship with Belle has been really nice because we didn't want Rosie to feel slightly jealous or like she's being left out," he adds, quipping: "We've lost a few teeth along the way as well, so tooth fairy's been in action."

Meanwhile, Joe takes great pride in Rex's growing ability to read. "It's so beautiful to watch him. I really struggled with reading growing up so to watch my little Rex just really succeed with his reading and his maths has been really nice to see."

The younger kids follow in the shining example set by their older brothers Zachary and 12-year-old Leighton, who are succeeding in college and school, respectively.

Joe's bond with his stepsons

With a 15 and 11-year age gap between Zach and Leighton and their youngest sibling, Joe makes a concerted effort to ensure his stepsons feel as much a part of the family as his biological children.

"I've always respected the fact that they've both got dads that they both really love. I can never be a biological dad, but if I could, I'd definitely choose to be their dad," he says.

"I love them to pieces and I show no difference between the love that I show for Rex and Rose and [the love I show] for Leighton and Zach. I just feel really lucky that I get a little bit of input into their lives."

Zach and Leighton love to go paintballing with their stepdad though he jokes: "They're getting their own little social lives, so it's less, where do I take them [and more] where do I take them as a taxi now."

Growing up

As their children grow, Stacey and Joe relish seeing parts of themselves in each of the kids' budding personalities. "Rex is full of mischief and I'm like, 'Oh yeah, that's me'," Joe says.

DISCOVER:Stacey Solomon overcome with love as superdad Joe Swash cradles their newborn babies

"Then you watch how much they love reading and writing and colouring in, and that's all from Stacey. They're all into drama and the arts, so I think me and Stacey both take responsibility for that."

Joe Swash is ambassador to HelloFresh, encouraging families to find balance with a mid-week dinner routine with HelloFresh www.hellofresh.co.uk