What Stacey Solomon taught me about faith in Sort Your Life Out

A wise Christian friend confessed to her obsession with Sort Your Life Out. I had no idea what to expect, but on the strength of her recommendation I decided to give it a try. From the first episode I was hooked.

Stacey Solomon, who has an impressive list of screen credentials, is a force of nature. An abundance of energy and joy spill out of her. In Sort Your Life Out, devoted mother of five, Stacey, has found her sweet spot.

While she’s skilled at putting the nervous adults at ease, it’s her special affinity with the children which gives the show its extra sparkle.

While she’s skilled at putting the nervous adults at ease, it’s her special affinity with the children which gives the show its extra sparkle. It’s as if the Fairy Godmother they’ve been wishing for has flown in to wave a wand over all their worries. They sense something good is about to happen and are drawn to her magical warmth.

Stacey, who has Jewish heritage, told Heart Radio: “Growing up, the influence Judaism had on me was an overwhelming understanding to love those around you, care for others as if they are part of your family and strive to be the best individual you can be.”

Her mum was the daughter of an Anglican vicar; she converted to Judaism before marrying Stacey’s father. While attending a Christian primary school it’s likely that Stacey encountered these words of Jesus in Matthew 19:14: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 

Her mum was the daughter of an Anglican vicar; she converted to Judaism before marrying Stacey’s father. 

This love for children seems to be a driving factor in both her personal life and her work. In episode one of series four she enters the crowded and cluttered bedroom of two bright little girls who have lost their mum to cancer.

There is no space for them to play and Stacey is visibly troubled: “This upsets me … what a shame”. Undeterred, she befriends the two girls and successfully draws them into the de-cluttering process. They are so genuinely overjoyed with the beautiful new bedroom that Stacey and her team create. I couldn’t help but shed a happy tear and marvel at how their lives have been transformed.

These are real lives, real homes, real pressures and real deadlines. When fleeting frictions arise with her team they are kindly and amicably resolved. But Solomon is only human and her sweet nature appears to take a back seat while sparring with husband Joe Swash. Their combative encounters play out like a short scene from the BBC soap opera Eastenders. Where coincidentally, or not, Swash once played the lovable rogue, Mickey Miller. Perhaps this is an intentional ploy to shift gear, offset the sweetness and add dramatic tension. Following each mini tiff, the couple always kiss, make up and marital harmony is restored.

At its heart Sort Your Life Out is not just a show about tidying up. Not really. Look closer and you’ll see it’s about the people. It’s about their stories, their journey. It’s about loving your neighbour; it’s the outworking of those values which Stacey learned in her young life. In Sort Your Life Out Stacey says she wants to: “help breathe joy and happiness back into people’s lives”.

Through hard work, collaboration and perseverance she achieves this worthy aim. Seeing her at work, watching those warm, motherly, interactions with the children who take part, and her own playful, child-like quality, I’m reminded not to take myself too seriously. And of these important words from Jesus in Matthew 18:3: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”