When filming for the BBC series Stacey & Joe failed to go ahead as planned last month, it sent alarm bells ringing behind the scenes.
Crews were booked and schedules cleared, but the production was halted at the last minute.
The series, I’m told, has been quietly postponed amid fears that Stacey Solomon, one of the BBC’s most prized stars, wants to step away from the spotlight she once courted so eagerly.
‘It was meant to be in production in December,’ a source tells me. ‘The BBC will say it’s been postponed, but who knows. It’s all very strange. It’s one of their biggest shows, it’s not normal.’
The unexpected halt allegedly caused concern not just within the broadcaster but also among those tasked with managing her increasingly complex commercial empire.
As the Daily Mail revealed today, Stacey is no longer represented by entertainment giant YMU, the powerful firm that has counted the likes of Take That, Ant and Dec, Nicole Scherzinger, Amanda Holden and Claudia Winkleman among its clients.
A YMU spokesman confirmed this week that the firm has indeed ‘amicably and mutually’ agreed to part ways with Stacey and that the separation is being managed quietly behind the scenes, with the firm understood to be seeing out existing brand partnerships already in motion.
But after reports of ‘a number of clashes’, industry insiders tell me this was far from a friendly goodbye.
One insider revealed that for Stacey Solomon to leave such a big agency is a ‘really, really bad’ sign
Stacey & Joe was supposed to be in production in December last year
‘Stacey has left YMU,’ one source says. ‘She’s stopped most of her brand stuff and has a legal company representing her. Her PA now seems to be running things, but YMU will see out her other deals so they get paid, and that’s normal. Apparently, YMU can’t stand her, and they lost money.’
For Stacey to leave such a massive agency is a ‘really, really bad’ sign, an insider adds. ‘Nobody seems to know what the hell is going on. She can’t retire, she’s got that massive house, and lots of kids to pay out for. She’s the big earner, the breadwinner. It will be hard with one salary.’
Stacey, after all, is the sole owner of Pickle Cottage – a £1.2million five-bedroom Essex property purchased in her name – despite also being the home of her husband, former EastEnders actor Joe Swash, 43, who has been declared bankrupt twice.
Her income has long dwarfed his – built not just on television work, but on a portfolio of commercial endorsements.
More striking still, then, is the claim that Stacey, 36, now also wants to drop a number of her lucrative brand partnerships in a move industry insiders say will have dire financial consequences for some of the businesses involved.
‘In the PR world, she’s known as a tricky character,’ one source tells me. ‘People get frustrated with her.’
The pair have six children between them. From left to right, Leighton, Rex, Stacey, Rose, Belle, Joe and Zach. Joe’s son Harry is not pictured
Stacey has collaborated several times with Primark, first in 2018 and later in 2019, 2024 and 2025
So serious is the situation that Stacey has, I’m told, hired a new financial adviser to ensure that all of her affairs are kept in order as she moves on to the next chapter of her career – whatever that may be.
And she certainly has much to thank YMU for.
Apart from her television work, she has a parenting podcast, Here We Go Again, fashion and homeware ranges at Asda and Primark, and a partnership deal with haircare brand REHAB.
The star also has a very lucrative deal with jewellery firm Abbott Lyon and has worked with brands such as In The Style and Jet2 over the years.
But while many in the business admire her down-to-earth persona, others have not been so keen to work with her.
‘Stacey has definitely rubbed some people up the wrong way over the years,’ says one former associate. ‘She has been known to leave agents who have worked very hard for her. She has been through many PR companies and different agents to get where she is today.
‘There are many people she has known along the way who don’t exactly have great things to say about her. She would come expecting a lot, it was tough.’
The timing of Stacey’s departure from YMU could scarcely be worse for the BBC, which has heavily backed the presenter as part of its push to appeal to younger audiences.
She and her husband remain one of the main double acts the Corporation is pinning its hopes on to help it win the ratings war with ITV.
Their decision to screen Stacey & Joe, which launched in April and returned for a second run in September, appeared to pay off handsomely.
Millions have tuned in to watch the pair and their blended family – they have six children between them, three together and three with other partners – at their Essex home.
The show was built on Stacey’s other BBC success: her BBC One decluttering hit Sort Your Life Out, now in its fifth run.
Stacey allegedly regrets signing up to Stacey & Joe because she was concerned about how she and her husband were coming across in their arguments
Stacey is the sole owner of Pickle Cottage, a £1.2million five-bedroom Essex property. Insiders have said that behind closed doors, tensions at Pickle Cottage have become difficult to manage
Stacey, right, and her sister Jemma Solomon. Jemma’s business The Label Lady, which even had backing from Lord Sugar, has closed after six years
But I’m told even that show is now under a cloud, with insiders claiming Stacey has said she wants to step away from it, too.
‘The BBC floated the possibility of bringing in someone else to present Sort Your Life Out,’ one source tells me. ‘But Stacey didn’t like that idea.’ Perhaps, understandably – after all, it’s her show.
It was alleged back in May that Stacey regretted signing up to Stacey & Joe because she found the backlash difficult and was concerned about how she and her husband were coming across in their arguments.
Few, of course, would underestimate how hard it must be to live with a camera crew permanently embedded in your family home – particularly with young children and a marriage reportedly under strain.
Behind the scenes, I’m told the mood has grown increasingly fraught, with Stacey struggling to cope with the backlash that has accompanied her foray into fly-on-the-wall television.
Those familiar with the production of Stacey & Joe say that behind closed doors, tensions at Pickle Cottage have become increasingly difficult to manage.
And signs of strain have occasionally even spilled into public view.
During filming in 2024, the couple were spotted having a heated argument at Westcliff-on-Sea train station in Essex, where Joe was seen storming down the road, puffing on a vape, while Stacey was in tears as the bemused camera crew looked on.
‘This is the thing: it’s not always as lovely as they make out,’ says a source who knows them.
It was later claimed that the pair had just been to a couple’s counselling session to address issues, including communication problems and the impact of Joe’s ADHD diagnosis.
One episode of Stacey & Joe even sees Joe reveal that he feels like a ‘problem’ in Stacey’s ‘perfect’ life.
And then there’s the matter of her sister, who is also represented by YMU.
Earlier this month, Jemma Solomon abruptly closed her home-organisation business, The Label Lady – a venture into which she and her husband Lee had poured six years of work.
The business had even secured backing from business magnate Lord Sugar, who invested and became a director in 2021.
But Companies House filings show the business’s net assets had fallen for three consecutive years, with cash reserves plunging from £630,000 to £342,000, while stock levels ballooned to more than 100,000 units – a sign of sluggish sales.
In a tearful seven-minute Instagram video, the mother-of-three announced the closure while customers complained in the comments about faulty orders and unanswered emails.
‘I suppose it’s scary saying we will no longer have a job, like it’s a weird feeling, isn’t it?’ she said, adding that her husband was ‘very nervous’ about the decision.
‘I will be honest, we don’t quite know what that new beginning is yet,’ she added. ‘And we’re going to be a little bit selfish.’
Online, Jemma, 37, now presents a life that increasingly mirrors Stacey’s: curated domestic scenes; family-focused sponsored content; and a relentless push for visibility.
Taken together – Stacey’s retreat from brand deals, her departure from YMU and her sister’s pivot into full-time influencing – some in the industry believe a broader recalibration is under way.
YMU has weathered high-profile departures before.
But Stacey was among its most commercially valuable names – and her quiet exit has not gone unnoticed by those who know the business best.