Cheryl Prudham, a mum-of-12 who the British media have dubbed ‘The Queen of Benefits’ and ‘Britain’s Most Shameless Mum’, is expecting her thirteenth child.
The 34-year-old mother hit the headlines last November when she admitted to a Magistrates’ Court that she had handled almost £5,000 in change stolen from parking meters, alongside her estranged husband Robert Prudham (31).
One of the car parks that the couple allegedly stole from was reported to belong to a hospital in Kent.
The part-time cleaner, who receives approximately £40,000 in benefits from the UK government, already has twelve children by three different fathers and is now expecting baby number thirteen.
Cheryl told The Sun newspaper that she had passed the 12-week mark on her thirteenth ‘much longed for’ pregnancy. Both Cheryl and her new partner Lee Ball (29), who is unemployed, are said to be delighted.
“Both of them are over the moon. Cheryl fell pregnant very quickly after the relationship started a few months ago and they both wanted a baby. Lee has a young daughter of his own already and is looking for work.
They actually knew each other as friends a couple of years ago, but since she has been single they met again and hit it off. He doesn’t live with her at the moment but if things go well and with the baby on the way it could happen.”
Baby number 13 will be a sibling to George (17), Jack (15), Caitlin (12), Maisie (10), Millie (9), Madison (8), Leon (6), Lenny (5), Lainey (4), twin sisters Lexy-Rose and Lacey-May (2) and Tillie-Grace Ellen (1).
Last summer Prudham caused public outrage in Britain after appearing on This Morning claiming that she was ‘addicted to having babies’. Presenter Holly Willoughby became increasingly frustrated with Cheryl’s apparent lack of morals and asked the mum-to-be how she could sleep at night.
“I would really struggle to sleep at night if I was taking all this money and somebody at the end of the road with disability allowance that was being cut, or they had a young carer who was 14 who couldn’t get the education and missing out on their life.
I know you’re not silly. You know that is the reality, so how can you sleep at night knowing that? You know how important your kids are to you. That person with a young carer, that person is equally important to them, but they haven’t got that money, because where is it going? Into your pocket.”
Before meeting her new partner Lee, the controversy-causing mum told Closer magazine that she would consider sperm donation in order to conceive another child,
“I miss having a newborn in my arms. I would love a boy next.
Signing up to a donor website is the perfect solution. I want a smart, good-looking man who’ll donate sperm for artificial insemination. I want nothing to do with him after that.”
It sounds like Lee better be on his very best behaviour.
Image: This Morning
