Sue and Noel Radford branded 'cruel' after taking their children to 'exploit animals for entertainment' on trip to Florida just weeks after their £52,000 Orlando holiday

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

Sue and Noel Radford have come under fire after animal lovers accused them of partaking in a 'cruel' tourist excursion while holidaying in Florida.
The Morecambe-based brood recently enjoyed their second getaway to Orlando, Florida, just weeks after Sue's lavish £52,000 visit to celebrate the her 50th birthday.
Britain's biggest family, known from Channel 5 's 22 Kids and Counting, filled their social media channels with updates from the trip, including a nearly half-an-hour long vlog from their visit to a National Park.
Enjoying a day out, the Lancashire locals shared scenes of them wandering through the vast park, taking a boat tour, and then finally stopping at an exotic pet enclosure where they each took it in turns to hold baby alligators.
This sparked fury among animal lovers who accused the family of contributing to 'cruelty' for the sake of 'entertainment'.
Noel, 54, was first to take hold of the baby alligator, bravely holding it between two hands and telling Sue it weighed 'less than a bag of sugar'.
Each of the children appeared delighted as they clutched the creatures. At one point, Sue was overheard giggling in the background of one scene as they were passed between the family.
In the video, the young alligators appeared with their mouths taped together, likely as a safety precaution.
Viewers expressed their distaste in the comments of the video, slamming the parents for having taken their children to visit the zoo.
One commented: 'Poor bloody alligators with mouths taped up so humans can get photos. Cruel and sad.'
'That is so so cruel holding them while mouths are taped they are wild animals,' a second agreed.
'That's so cruel the way their mouths are taped up so they can be passed about and photographed. Don't agree with that crap,' another wrote.
'Better organisation is needed, poor gators and their mouths are taped. All for tourism and entertainment,' a fourth remarked.
At the time of writing, the family have not responded to any of their comments.
The family embarked on their second trip to the glamorous holiday spot just one month after visiting for Sue's 50th birthday, sharing each and every moment to their social media channels.
Posting to Facebook, the Morecambe-based clan uploaded snaps from their visit to Alligator Farm in the Everglades, where they got up close with the wildlife.
Both older and younger children looked thrilled, beaming in the sunshine, as they sat together on a wooden boat.
Dad Noel got into the swing of things as he posed with a straw safari hat and even held up a giant cricket, with the family joking: 'Think Noel thinks he's turned into Indiana Jones with his new hat.'
Elsewhere, the youngest Radfords were seen building sandcastles and playing on the beach while wearing adorable sun hats as the family made the most of their time away.
The group also took in the sights at Disney World once again, with a front-row seat to the famous Epcot fireworks show.
This time, the Radfords were joined by their close friends, the Walkers - another supersized family who have 11 children of their own.
Their latest trip comes just weeks after their headline-making £52,000 Florida holiday for Sue's milestone birthday.
The family previously told The Mirror they had been 'feeling the pinch' financially but didn't hold back when it came to celebrating Sue's big 5-0.
That trip featured visits to Disney parks, pool days at their luxury villa and plenty of sweet family moments, including a snap of Sue wearing Minnie Mouse ears and another of two of her daughters wearing matching outfits and backpacks, each with identical dolls tucked inside.
Meanwhile, the family also made headlines this week for a very different reason - a personal update from the Radfords' eldest daughter, Sophie.
Sophie Radford, 31, took to Instagram to reveal she is no longer with her husband, Joseph Broadley.
The couple married in 2015 and share three children: Daisy Mae, 12, Ayprill Louise, 10, and Leo, nine.
In a Q&A with fans, the TV personality, who has over 60,000 followers, gave quickfire answers to a series of personal questions, revealing her favourite food is pizza, her shoe size is four-to-five and her age is 31.
But the question that caught most attention was: 'Are you single?'
Sophie replied with an all-caps 'YES' and added: 'THAT'S ALL THAT WILL BE SAID ON IT.'
She offered no further details on the split but made it clear she was not open to discussing the matter further.