Joe Swash has blamed Covid-19 for delaying his marriage proposal to Stacey Solomon, but says she already has their wedding ‘planned in her head.’
The former EastEnders star, 38, was considering getting down on one knee before lockdown but now wants to wait until normal life resumes.
He predicts he wont have any involvement with planning the big day as the Loose Women panellist will take on all the organisation herself.
‘I will get round to it eventually’: Joe Swash has blamed Covid for delaying his proposal to Stacey Solomon but says the TV host already has their wedding ‘planned in her head’
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Joe says: ‘It will come in time.
‘We’ve had so many things we need to deal with, the kids, lockdown – I will get round to it eventually. This has just reminded me.
‘Stacey has the wedding all planned in her head – I’m not going to have a say in any of it.
‘Before you know it will be organised and Stacey will make it beautiful, and I’m fine with her taking it all on. A happy wife means a happy life.’
‘It will come in time’: The former EastEnders star, 38, was considering getting down on one knee before lockdown but now wants to wait until normal life resumes
‘I’m fine with her taking it all on’: He predicts he wont have any involvement with planning the big day as the Loose Women panellist will take on all the organisation herself
The actor has been dating Stacey, 31, since 2015 after meeting on the set of the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! spin-off show, which Joe presented between 2009 and 2018.
The couple, who are both previous winners of the ITV jungle series, had son Rex in May last year and Joe is stepfather to Stacey’s two sons Zachary, 12 and Leighton, eight, while the former X Factor star is stepmother to his son Harry, 13.
Since getting together the pair have amassed huge followings on their social media accounts by giving fans a glimpse of their hectic everyday lives.
And their popularity has sparked interest from TV bosses eager to give them their own reality show.
Career: Joe has teased that him and Stacey, who share son Rex together, are eyeing up a co-hosting stint on This Morning to follow in the footsteps of Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford
But Joe says an Osbournes’ style fly-on-the-wall series is unlikely as the pair are targeting a co-hosting stint on ITV juggernaut This Morning, following in the footsteps of other real-life presenting couples Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan and current presenters Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford.
He says: ‘This Morning would be perfect for us. It’s a huge show and would be a great learning curve.
‘We’d be a mixture between Phil and Holly when they get the giggles and Eamonn and Ruth when she gets the hump with him. You’d be watching rows and all sorts.’
Landing a job on This Morning would give Stacey the opportunity to appear alongside show regular and her new BFF – Queen of Clean, Mrs Hinch.
TV stars: Joe told MailOnline the presenting duo would be a ‘mixture between Phil and Holly when they get the giggles and Eamonn and Ruth when she gets the hump with him’
The pair have become close over the past year, quashing rumours of a feud between both domestic goddesses.
However their blossoming friendship has been tough for Joe who now has to be even more vigilant with his cleaning when Sophie (Mrs Hinch) comes round their house.
He explains: ‘It’s like all hands on deck. We have to tidy up the house from top to bottom. If the Queen of Clean is coming round, we can’t have a dirty house.
‘We’ve got a butler sink which is quite big so I just hide everything in there, sweep all the mess in it. It has a wooden cover so you don’t see anything underneath.
‘We can’t have a dirty house’: The former I’m A Celeb star ‘we have to tidy up the house from top to bottom’ when Stacey’s close friend and Queen of Clean Mrs Hinch comes to visit
‘But Stacey and Sophie love each other, she has a lovely family. We all went to the zoo with them recently. We get on really well. The kids are the same age so they get to grow up together.’
Joe was speaking to MailOnline to promote his new role in children’s TV institution Thomas & Friends: Marvelous Machinery Specials.
He voices a new train called Sonny in the long-running series, which still features legendary characters including the fearsome blue express train Gordon.
Describing his character, Joe says: ‘Sonny gets in with the wrong crowd, but he’s better than that and wants to do it the right way.
‘She has a lovely family’: He said Stacey and Sophie ‘love each other’ and their children are the same age so are growing up together
‘He’s a bit of a rogue and I actually based him a bit on my character Mickey in EastEnders. He won’t be falling out with Gordon – he’s the muscles.’
Joe played cheeky window cleaner Mickey Miller for eight years in Albert Square, his breakthrough acting role.
He still harbours a return to Walford nearly a decade after he left and has revealed one of the BBC One soap’s directors wants him to make a comeback.
Joe says: ‘I was in Butlins over the summer and bumped into one of the EastEnders directors and he said ‘you’ve got to come back.’
‘Id’ love to work with Danny Dyer’: Joe said he would ‘seriously consider’ reprising the role of Mickey Miller in EastEnders if approached by BBC One bosses
‘It’s not up to me, however I would seriously consider it if they ask me.
‘I’d love to work with Danny Dyer. There’s some really good actors on there right now, I love the guy who plays Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden), he’s brilliant.
‘I do think EastEnders needs an injection of comedy. Most people in there are serious, and that’s not what London is about and that’s what Mickey would bring.
‘Londoners have a great sense of humour and I don’t think that comes across enough on the show.’
Work: Joe voices a new train called Sonny in children’s TV series Thomas & Friends: Marvelous Machinery Specials and described his character as ‘getting in the wrong crowd’
Asked how he would react if EastEnders brought back Mickey but recast the role, he joked: ‘I would be devastated, so angry – I would be beyond annoyed.
‘It would be like my best mate going out with my ex-girlfriend. You shouldn’t have the hump about it, but you do.
‘I’d be even more annoyed if he looked younger and was ripped. I’m nearly 40 and have a dad bod.’
Thomas & Friends: Marvelous Machinery Specials, Channel 5 Milkshake! Sat/Sun 24th and 25th October at 7am