Stacey Solomon hits back after being accused of jumping Pokémon queue
Stacey Solomon is setting the record straight after facing accusations that she skipped the queue to get her hands on the latest Pokémon release.
For the uninitiated, there’s a major celebration underway in the world of Pikachu and friends. The beloved Japanese media franchise is marking its 30th anniversary this year, with special-edition cards and merchandise released to celebrate the milestone.
Since launching in 1996, Pokémon has amassed a huge global fanbase, and has become big business, too. Rare cards can fetch thousands from collectors, while the latest anniversary release has been hailed by fans as one of the brand’s biggest drops in years.
But the anniversary has descended into chaos in Essex today after Stacey and her husband Joe Swash were accused of breaking the rules and skipping the queue.
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Fans online are currently raging after clips were shared that appeared to show the former X Factor contestant at jumping the line at Geek Retreat in Chelmsford, Essex.
According to a Pokémon fan, shoppers were given instructions about not forming a queue until 30 minutes before opening and not parking their cars outside the shop. They also claimed shoppers were told there was a limit for how much they could buy.
Some angry critics claimed Stacey and Joe were seen leaving with more items than they should have after allegedly jumping ahead. However the mum-of-five has fired back at the accusations with a lengthy post on X.
“This is the biggest lie and it’s outright disgraceful to put a small business in this position,” Stacey declared.
“We joined the queue like everyone else as soon as it started forming. We were sold the exact same limit as everyone else and they were all opened like everyone else’s.”
She continued: "My son and I have been collecting Pokémon cards for years. We’ve queued at many places, many times like everyone else. In fact that same morning after the school run I queued in Waterstones and didn’t make it to the front before they sold out. And Zachary was queuing in Romford that morning at Smyths from 7am and they had sold out too.”
The post, which has accumulated 43,000 views in just two hours, continues: “So the absolute lies in this post that are having a negative impact on Geek Retreat Chelmsford are so unwarranted and unfair. They handled the situation so well given what they were dealing with.”
The former Pickle Cottage resident also responded to a post from another account which claimed she was spotted ‘walking out with multiple boxes’.
“Yes you could buy one of each set,” she replied. “Like in most stores."
She continued: “Anyone who collects these cards knows it’s the same everywhere depending on what they have in. I bought one of each set.
“Like most people in the queue. They also were not waking out with just one item. Why are you lying and making it sound like I was able to buy anything different from anyone else?”
Some of Stacey’s fans jumped to her defense, with one X user reporting from the scene that they were in the queue at the same time as Stacey and Joe and said ‘I saw how much you guys got and it wasn’t more than OK’.
Stacey replied with a black heart emoji.
Geek Retreat shared their own response in a lengthy post shared on Facebook.
“We would like to address some of the negativity and aggression we have received today," the statement begins.
“Today we ran the release of the Pokemon 30th Anniversary set in a way that we genuinely believed would best support our customers, maintain fairness and help reduce scalping.
“We would also like to address the suggestion that certain people, including well-known individuals, were given special treatment today. This is simply not true.
“We did not know that any famous people were attending until we saw them outside.
“They were not allowed in early, they were not given extra stock, and they were subject to exactly the same one of each product per-person limits as everyone else.
“They happened to be second in the queue when we opened, and no member of our team allowed them to skip the queue.”
Topics: Stacey Solomon, Celebrity
Greg Harris