Free Living Life the Essex Way by Sam Faiers

At this point I went on a lot of
girls’ holidays to Marbella, and I did go on a few dates, but there was nothing serious. Although I have to say, Mark Wright did keep popping his head up from time to time! But I was never
actually dating him.
    I went on a few dates with a footballer who played – and still plays – for West Ham United, James Tomkins. He was really nice, but it didn’t work out, mainly because our
lifestyles were too different. He would be up early in the morning for training, whereas I was a party girl and had late nights all the time, so we weren’t going to fit into each
other’s lives, but I still see him around and think he is a nice guy.
    Then I had a holiday romance with a guy called Jorge who I met in Marbella. That was intense and pretty good, and I really did like him. He was just my type, but when we got back home it fizzled
out – he lived in south London, and the distance between us just made it too hard. Plus he was very private, and hated the route he thought I was going down when
TOWIE
started, so it
seemed it wasn’t destined to work out.
    And then
TOWIE
really took off. It was probably best for the show that I went into it single, as it is more interesting for people to watch – but it was good timing, because, as I
say, me being single is rare!
    I guess I knew that something would end up happening with Mark again, as he was involved in the show as well. We always had this chemistry, but because we had never tried a relationship, it was
like we had unfinished business. I didn’t do anything with him when he was dating Lucy in series one, but I was a bit frustrated – because I had introduced the two of them! When we were
in Marbella the summer before the show started, I told Mark who she was, and I could tell at the time, knowing what he’s like, that he was thinking he wouldn’t mind a bit of her!
    As for Lauren . . . well, as I say, she didn’t exactly have a good track record as far as I was concerned, so I didn’t feel I owed her a lot. But at the same time I am not a
relationship-wrecker, so I never set out to try to cause any upset between her and Mark. I think she did plenty of that on her own! I do find it weird what she put up with though – I think a
girl should be made to feel special, and that a boy should be proud to have her on his arm, but he left her at home all the time. She never went to any of his club nights because he wouldn’t
let her – he wanted to be free to do as he wished when he was there!
    After series one, when me and Mark were sort of seeing each other again, I took him to a Christmas party thrown by my modelling agency, Girl Management. He was there as my guest, but after a
couple of hours he disappeared and texted me to say he had gone home sick. I found out the next day that he had gone home with another model – and that just sums him up. He is ultimately
selfish – what he wants to do, he does, without thinking how it will impact on anyone else. He wasn’t my boyfriend at the time, but it still hurt that he thought it was OK to behave
like that.
    Not long after that he got with Kayla Collins. I do actually think that was a real relationship, and I know he fancied her, but like so many of Mark’s relationships he couldn’t keep
it going – as there were too many other girls out there to tempt him.
    The one time everyone does ask me about is when I told Mark I loved him, after I found out he and Lauren were engaged in series two. It wasn’t something I did with the intention of getting
him to leave Lauren. It was more something I did for myself, as an attempt at closure, I guess. I thought that if I said it, I would find it easier to move on. I did feel better afterwards and I
don’t regret doing it. In fact, I think it made it easier to look elsewhere – and that’s when I found Joey.
    I had known Joey for a while before he appeared on
TOWIE
. He was friends with one of my exes, and I had seen him at house