Yahoo News Jamie Laing quits Made in Chelsea because he feels ‘too old’ for the reality show
Jamie Laing is quitting Made in Chelsea to focus on his confectionary business
(Candy Kittens)Jamie Laing has confirmed he is leaving Made In Chelsea, admitting he feels “too old” to be on the reality show.
The star, 32, has appeared on the hit E4 series since its second season in 2011 but says he now wants to focus on other ventures - such as his confectionary business Candy Kittens.
Mr Laing, who lives in London with his girlfriend Sophie Habboo, admitted “there’s no longer a reason for him to do the show”, adding that he was stepping back “100 per cent” as he doesn’t want to just do cameo appearances.
“It was an amazing experience and I loved it and I have a huge amount of respect for everyone that creates that show but for the moment I am stepping back from it,” he told MailOnline.
“It’s a classic statement but I am stepping back 100 per cent. I love that show but also I’m 32.
“With a reality show you’ve got to really throw yourself into it and whatever I do I want to do it to my best ability and put my all into it and at the moment I can’t do that and I have other things I need to do.”
Mr Laing is the great-great-grandson of Sir Alexander Grant, 1st Baronet, who created the McVitie’s digestive biscuit in 1892.
He has become one of the best-known cast members of the E4 series and was a finalist on Strictly Come Dancing 2020 with partner Karen Hauer.
Mr Laing founded Candy Kittens - a range of vegan and gluten free sweets - in 2012.
He has been working with friend and business partner Ed Williams since 2014 and the sweets are now stocked in Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
In March, he told the Standard that the company was going through a tough time because of the pandemic and there were times when he didn’t think it would survive.
Speaking as his launched the company’s The Sweet Life campaign which encouraged people to put less pressure on themselves post lockdown, he told the Standard: “We [Candy Kittens] are described as a [consumer] impulse buy. And it was pretty scary.
“I feel incredibly sorry for a lot of businesses, especially hospitality who have struggled very hard. We had to pivot and we had to change in order to survive.
“And we learnt how to do things in a different way. Like most businesses in the beginning, we struggled. We are eight years in and we suddenly thought our business wasn’t going to survive through it. Thankfully we did.”
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Jamie Laing: Lockdown was a ‘scary’ time for my confectionary business
