Stacey Solomon has revealed that her organising of her home helps keep her anxiety under control as she admits that it’s a ‘coping mechanism.’
In recent years, the mum-of-three, 31, has become more known for her organisational skills and her ‘Tap To Tidy’ Instagram posts than she is for her X Factor stint and Loose Women fame.
And in a candid new interview where she discussed everything from postnatal depression, her blended family and upcoming wedding to fiance Joe Swash, Stacey told how bringing order to her home is ‘my form of meditation’.
Speaking out: Stacey Solomon has revealed that her organising of her home helps keep her anxiety under control as she admits that it’s a ‘coping mechanism’
Stacey often thrills fans with her before and after social media posts, transforming a messy room into a vision of calm and tidiness, with the star also known for hanging her crisps on hangers and her perfectly labelled jars.
Discussing the reasoning behind this, she explained to Grazia: ‘It’s definitely about a sense of control for me. I have a tendency to catastrophise and doing something that you have control over is an escape from that.’
‘It’s a coping mechanism. My form of meditation. The point is not the end result, but the space that I’ve created for my mind.
Stacey went on to candidly speak about her struggles following the births of her children Zachary, 12, Leighton, eight and 21-month-old Rex, explaining how her organisation helped her ‘cope’ with her postnatal depression.
Candid: In a new interview where she discussed everything from postnatal depression, her blended family and upcoming wedding to fiance Joe Swash, Stacey told how bringing order to her home is ‘my form of meditation’
She said: ‘With each of my children, I had a slump where I was unable to enjoy it in the way that some people can. With Zach, I didn’t know it was postnatal depression, but I knew I had to find a way to cope with those thoughts. Setting my mind to a task like organising something allows me to feel a bit more in control of that.’
The TV personality also opened up about how she felt after first giving birth as a teenager, stating she went from being ‘invincible’ to being ‘vulnerable’ and felt she could ‘die at any minute’ as she battled to cope with her emotions.
Despite her sunny disposition on TV, Stacey admitted that away from the cameras, she can at times really struggle with her anxiety.
Perfection: In recent years, the mum-of-three, 31, has become more known for her organisational skills and her ‘Tap To Tidy’ Instagram posts than she is for her X Factor stint and Loose Women fame
Reason: she explained to Grazia : ‘It’s definitely about a sense of control for me. I have a tendency to catastrophise and doing something that you have control over is an escape from that’
Help: ‘It’s a coping mechanism. My form of meditation. The point is not the end result, but the space that I’ve created for my mind’
Read the full interview in this week’s Grazia magazine, on sale now
She explained: ‘Sometimes my anxiety is really dark. Like, I can’t breathe, and feel like I’m having a heart attack.’
She added that despite her personality making it seem that she is not ‘intelligent’, she noted that no matter how someone appears to be, there are always things in life that can ‘make them anxious’.
On a happier note, Stacey is happily planning her imminent wedding to fiancé Joe Swash, 39, with the couple set to tie the knot in July.
With the country currently in lockdown, the Tap To Tidy author hasn’t been able to try on wedding dress, but she’s says she’s preparing by ‘looking at designs over Zoom’ adding she’ll be ready for when shops are eventually open.
Coping: Stacey went on to candidly speak about her struggles following the births of her children Zachary, 12, Leighton, eight and 21-month-old Rex, explaining how her organisation helped her ‘cope’ with her postnatal depression (pictured with Zach)
Honest: ‘With Zach, I didn’t know it was postnatal depression, but I knew I had to find a way to cope with those thoughts. Setting my mind to a task like organising something allows me to feel a bit more in control of that’
Despite only getting engaged on Christmas Eve, the star added that she’s already got the date and a photographer booked for the big day and if everything goes well according to the roadmap out of lockdown, she’s hopeful they can enjoy a day ‘without masks’.
Stacey noted that she won’t be taking Joe’s surname however, stating that she wants to have the same surname as her sons – with Stacey having Zachary and Leighton from a previous relationship.
She added though they could change their names to Swash, she wouldn’t want to put them in a position of ‘choosing between Joe and their dads’, adding that they will need to have a ‘chat.’
Stacey previously admitted that if the ‘worst comes to the worst’ amid the pandemic restrictions, she will still marry Joe over the summer even if they only have a ceremony of six.
Struggles: Despite her sunny disposition on TV, Stacey admitted that away from the cameras, she can at times struggle with her anxiety, noting it sometimes feels like she ‘can’t breathe’
Wedding bells: On a happier note, Stacey is happily planning her imminent wedding to fiancé Joe Swash, 39, with the couple set to tie the knot in July
She told Hello!: ‘It’s going really well and I’m really enjoying it, I’m trying to stay as positive as possible. I know the reality of the situation is that we might not even be allowed to get married this year, let alone have the people that we want there.
‘But me and Joe have spoken about it. There are people in our lives who we don’t think we will, unfortunately, have much time left with.
‘So if worst comes to worst, and we can only have a wedding of six, then we will get married with those special people because it’s really important to us to have certain people there.’
Last name: Stacey won’t officially become Mrs. Swash after the wedding day as she wants to have the same surname as her children (pictured with Zachary, Rex and Leighton)
Family: She added though they could change their names to Swash, she wouldn’t want to put them in a position of ‘choosing between Joe and their dads’ (pictured together in 2020)