TV show is genuine family viewing

Sullivans invite cameras into their crowded world as they reveal secrets of raising 11 children on a budget

For the Sullivan family, every meal is like a large-scale catering event – and a day out takes military level organisational skills.

Because this Moray family could make their own football team – and even have the luxury of two subs on the bench.

Zoe and Ben Sullivan and their brood of 11, ranging in age from two to 16, are one of Britain’s biggest families.

The Lossiemouth family are set to hit the small screen tonight as part of an ITV1 programme about budgeting for so many kids.

Zoe provided an insight into the day-to-day mechanics of keeping things running like clockwork, how she and Ben ended up with such a big clan – and what it’s really like to shop for 13.

Ben, 46, and Zoe, 42, are both from the same part of Cornwall and grew up together. After moving away from the area separately as young adults, they got together when they both came back.

Almost exactly 16 years ago they had their first child, Elisabeth, whose birthday was last month. Olivia, 14, was also born in Cornwall. Then Ben’s job as an aircraft engineer took them to RAF Valley in Wales, where twins Charlotte and Isabelle, now 13, came along.

Another move took the Sullivans to RAF Benson, in Oxfordshire, and their first boy Noah, now 11, was born, followed by Evangeline, nine, and eight-year-old Tobias.

A shift to Lossiemouth followed, where the family was completed. Twins Leah and Erin, now five, were very premature. Agnes, three, and Joseph, two, are the babies of the family.

Zoe isn’t quite sure how they ended up with such a huge family. Ben was one of five siblings, but the couple never made a conscious decision to go big.

She said: “We never really said let’s have lots of children.

“We had Noah and then it was like let’s just keep going – this is quite fun.

“The twins were supposed to be the last ones, but we carried on.

Joseph is only two, so we still have a whole lifetime to go.”

And is there room for any more in the Sullivan family? Zoe would only commit to: “No more have arrived – yet.”

From shopping trips to days out, the Sullivans have to plan everything they do.

For a while, they had two seven-seater Vauxhall Zafiras to ferry the family around – although at the moment they are down to a single Astra for essential journeys.

Zoe revealed the key to a happy life is to get as many chores done in the morning as possible.

She said: “We’re very organised people and the kids are too – that’s the only way that works for us.

“I’m up at 4.45am on weekdays, and get a slightly later start at the weekend of 5am.

“We’re a good team. Everybody knows what they’ve got to do and knows when to pitch in.”

The Sullivan family fit themselves into a standard four-bedroomed house, with Zoe and Ben in one room, the three boys in another, and the girls split by age in the last two.

Zoe admitted: “My dream house would have 10 or 11 bedrooms, but that seems a tall order.”

“We had Noah and then it was like let’s just keep going – this is fun

WE’RE NOT KIDDING: The Sullivan family from Lossiemouth contains enough children to make up a football team, with mum and dad able to sit on the bench as the two substitutes.