For years bosses believed they had struck gold with and – a ready-made, ratings-winning power couple whose carefully curated family life could rival anything on .
But those hopes now lie in tatters.
Because in a move that lays bare just how much the couple’s dynamic has now shifted, Joe has dramatically left entertainment giant YMU – the agency that once represented both him and Stacey – and signed with rival firm Off Limits Group, in a bid, he says, to find ‘fresh ideas’ and a ‘new perspective’.
And if that signals a shift, his recent career moves underline it.
The twice-bankrupt former star has quietly pivoted into the world of shop, promoting cut-price gadgets to his followers in a move that is a far cry from the polished double act the BBC once banked on.
It is, for some, an uncomfortable contrast.
Because while Stacey, 36, has built a slick multi-million-pound empire at the heart of the Corporation’s entertainment strategy, Joe, 44, appears to be moving in an entirely different direction.
‘ITV and BBC bosses desperately wanted them to work, to be the next power couple, but it hasn’t worked,’ one source tells me. ‘Now it doesn’t look like it will. The chances have passed, it’s all very cringe.’
Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash's once-seamless image is starting to show signs of strain
Joe’s new agency – co-founded in 2017 by former Towie star Chris Drake – places him among a roster of reality and entertainment names including former Little Mix member Jesy Nelson, 34, ex-Love Island star Chris Hughes, 33, and TV personality Tasha Ghouri, 27.
And it comes at a time when the couple’s once-seamless public image is already beginning to show signs of strain.
Stacey herself raised eyebrows on Wednesday during an appearance on This Morning, when host Ben Shephard, 51, referenced Joe’s ‘lovely’ Mother’s Day tribute to her on social media – only for Stacey to admit she hadn’t even seen it.
‘Did he? I didn’t see it. What did he say?’ she said, despite the post having been shared days earlier and Joe tagging her account.
It was a fleeting exchange, but one that hinted at a disconnect at odds with the tightly presented partnership viewers have been sold.
Particularly as it comes just days after Stacey was heard taking a swipe at her husband for ‘selling crap’ online, while she has also been spotted without her wedding ring in recent weeks.
Joking with Ben on This Morning, Stacey said: 'Have I not been wearing my ring? Probably took it off to go to the toilet, or something.'
Stacey added: 'Maybe I dropped my ring in the lake... with our marriage!'
Taken together, the signs point to a couple whose carefully polished image is beginning to tarnish.
Joe’s departure from YMU follows Stacey’s own quiet exit from the same agency earlier this year – a move insiders insist was far from the ‘amicable and mutual’ split publicly described.
Stacey speaks to Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on ITV's This Morning on Wednesday
The pair pose in front of the £1.2million five-bedroom home in Essex
‘Apparently, YMU can’t stand her, and they lost money,’ one source said, adding that for Stacey to leave such a massive agency was a ‘really, really bad’ sign.
‘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 for,’ the source added. ‘She’s the big earner, the breadwinner. It will be hard with one salary.’
Indeed, the former X Factor star is the sole owner of Pickle Cottage – the £1.2million, five-bedroom family home in Essex purchased in her name. The pair have three children, and Joe has another child and Stacey has two sons from previous relationships.
Her company, Key Map Entertainments Ltd, which manages her television work and commercial deals, was valued at £10.1million for 2025, a significant jump from £7.4million the previous year. The accounts also reveal that Stacey has £7.5million tied up in investments and a further £1.6million in cash.
Much of that fortune has been built through a steady stream of highly profitable collaborations, including homeware and fashion ranges with Primark and George at Asda, jewellery partnerships with Abbott Lyon, a haircare venture with REHAB and her parenting podcast Here We Go Again.
By contrast, Joe’s career has taken a markedly different turn.
More than two decades after first finding fame on EastEnders, he can now be found flogging everything from hair-growth shampoo and conditioner priced at £25 to electronic eye-massage masks for £29.99 to his 107,000 TikTok followers – with each post marked ‘commission paid’.
Stacey, meanwhile, can frequently be heard heckling him in the background, once even telling her husband, ‘You look like a k**b’, before he has even begun.
The Corporation’s vision of Stacey and Joe is beginning to come apart, writes Olivia Kemp
It all marks a striking divergence from the unified image the BBC had worked so carefully to build.
‘This really is a new low for Joe,’ one source tells me. ‘You have Stacey running a multi-million-pound empire while he’s doing commission-paid ads for gadgets on TikTok.’
Another added: ‘It does rather make you wonder whether Stacey’s stopped giving him his pocket money.’
The imbalance has long been evident. Joe was declared bankrupt in 2008 and 2013 after failing to keep up with tax bills, and he has previously admitted to being reckless with money during his early fame.
And it is precisely that imbalance – between Stacey’s polished, multi-million-pound brand and Joe’s more erratic trajectory – that now threatens the carefully constructed image that made them so valuable in the first place.
Together, Stacey and Joe had become one of the BBC’s most valuable on-screen double acts.
