Sickening trolls made a joke so cruel about our child that they wanted to CANCEL birthday party, reveals Sue Radford

HAVING shared the realities of being parents to Britain’s biggest family on TV for more than a decade, Noel and Sue Radford are used to dealing with criticism.

But they draw the line at abuse directed at their kids - which is why they were left heartbroken when daughter Ellie was cruelly trolled on her 18th birthday.

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Last May, Ellie – one of 22 Radford children – celebrated her landmark birthday dressed up in a beautiful white dress and matching sparkly heels.

Proud mum Sue, 48, shared a photo of Ellie looking glamorous on the family’s Instagram page and fans were quick to compare her to Victoria Beckham.

One wrote: “Happy 18th defo Victoria Beckham double I really thought it was her” whilst another commented: “Ellie looks like a little Posh Spice”.

But soon afterwards, vicious online trolls began to slam the Radford’s daughter for looking like ‘mutton dressed as lamb’, reveal a devastated Sue and Noel today.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Noel, 52, said: “It’s upsetting. Ellie’s 18th is a special moment and she is only 18 once, and it ruined it for her.

“You can have a thousand positive comments but it takes one or two to ruin your day.”

The messages have since been deleted from the family’s Instagram page but Sue reveals Ellie was also trolled for being too thin.

This was particularly hard to take because her daughter has been diagnosed with Gilbert’s Syndrome, a hereditary condition when the liver function is too high and can cause people to lose weight.

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Sue explained: “They also said: ‘put weight on, you look anorexic’. But in the last series, viewers will have seen that Ellie was ill. She had Gilbert’s Syndrome which saw her lose a lot of weight.

"She was quite poorly with it, and you just think people have no right to comment on people’s looks and their appearance. It’s not fair. She was really upset and it’s difficult as a parent.”

The couple say the trolls affected their daughter so much, she initially didn’t even want to go out to celebrate turning 18.

Thankfully, they were able to persuade her to not let the ghouls ruin her big day - but insist their kids should be left alone.

Sue said: “For me and Noel, you can brush it off and go ‘it doesn’t matter, it’s fine’. But I think when it is your children that are getting that, it’s not ok.

"The people commenting are probably parents, probably with children the same age as Ellie and they find that acceptable to comment on things like that on social media. I find it mind-blowing.”

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Married for more than 30 years, Sue and Noel are parents to Chris, 34, Sophie, 29, Chloe, 28, Jack, 26, Daniel, 24, Luke, 23, Millie, 22, Katie, 21, James, 20, Ellie, 18, Aimee, 17, Josh, 16, Max, 14, Tillie, 13, Oscar, 12, Casper, 11, Hallie, eight, Phoebe, seven, Archie, six, Bonnie, five and Heidie, three.

Sadly, the couple’s 17th child, Alfie, was stillborn on July 6, 2014. They also have ten grandchildren.

The couple – who have never received any benefits - have invited cameras into their chaotic family home for more than a decade.

And today, they reveal the notoriety of being one of the country’s most famous families has seen fans turn up to their 10-bedroom home in Morecambe uninvited to get a glimpse of them.

“We also have people turn up at the house,” revealed Sue. “They knock on the door. I had one woman who knocked on the door and basically grabbed me and hugged me!”

The uninvited visitors feature in the new 12-part series of Channel 5’s ’22 Kids and Counting’, which continues this Sunday at 8pm.

Viewers will also see the family jet off to Zante for a holiday as they prefer to spend their well-earned money on a trip somewhere special rather than lavishing their children with too many presents.

And the show reveals two of the eldest Radfords, Luke and Chloe, are now back on speaking terms after finally patching up their 18-month feud.

The pair fell out over a shelf of frozen pastry shells and both strong-willed, refused to apologise.

After months of pleading for them both to stop their feud, Sue and Noel were forced to bring in an outside counsellor before Christmas to help resolve it.

The intervention worked and now Luke and Chloe, who both work at Noel’s family bakery, are the best of friends.

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Beaming, Sue said: “It is lovely to see them back to normal and see Luke playing with Chloe’s daughter, Mila.

"It’s the best Christmas present. You don’t want any of your kids falling out and so it is good they are back speaking!”

She rubbished claims they had fallen out with another of their daughters, Millie, 22, who was said to not be on speaking terms with the family.

She added: “We are fine, really good. Millie came around for Christmas dinner.”

Christmas saw the family get through two turkeys, 60 pigs in blankets, 3kg of Brussel sprouts, 7.5kg of potatoes, 4kg carrots, and 60 Yorkshire puddings during the lunch alone.

It was washed down by 16 litres of fizzy drink, two bottles of cream liqueur, four Christmas puddings, 48 mince pies and one yule log as well as two tubs of family chocolates.

And now as another year beckons, Noel reveals he is looking to cut back on his work at the family bakery to spend more quality time with Sue.

The down-to-earth pair try to have a date night every month but are trying to carve out more time on their own.

He said: “I would like to take a step back, so there is time for me and Sue.

“It won’t be a single person (out of our children) who takes the business over though. Chloe, Luke and Jack will all be there.”

Proud of the strong business they have built up together, the couple say they still love making their TV show together, which first aired in 2012.

“We started doing them when I was pregnant with Oscar,” added Sue. “He is 12 now! You look back on the first programme and think ‘OMG, I was so much younger then’.

“We still enjoy making the programme - we love the memories they create and we are so proud of what we have built up.”

Now with their elder children starting to carve out new lives for themselves and already ten grandchildren in tow, the couple laugh as they admit they will never get bored in their busy household.

Asked if the number of grandchildren could reach 50, Noel agrees, adding: “Possibly yes!”

And as their family gets bigger and bigger, the Radfords vow to ignore anyone who wants to tear them down.

Noel said: “It’s a whole new world going into TV and the media but it’s important not to look at comments. Take yourselves for who you are.

“We are very proud of our family and when you see us all together, you think ‘my god that’s all our kids’!”

Channel 5’s 22 Kids and Counting continues this Sunday at 8pm