Love Island Joey Essex's life from TOWIE star's famous exes to heartbreak in childhood

Joey Essex caused quite a stir when he made an unexpected TV return this week. The former The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) star can add Love Island to his bumper reality TV CV thanks to his debut on the ITV2 dating show during the series opener on Monday night (June 3).

Joey, 33, left Love Island viewers stunned when he appeared on their screens towards the end of tonight's summer series launch episode, with the Essex lad unveiled as a bombshell ready to cause some chaos inside the Spanish villa.

While Joey may be no stranger to the world of celebrity and reality TV, viewers may be surprised to learn a few things about the villa's first bombshell of the summer. From the heartbreaking way he dealt with the death of his mother as a young boy to his famous exes and one-time co-star fiancee, the Mirror took a look at Joey's life away from the cameras.

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Joey made his reality TV debut way back in 2011, when he joined his cousin Chloe Sims on the second series of The Only Way is Essex. In addition to coining his catchphrase 'reem' on TOWIE until 2013, Joey has enjoyed a stint in the jungle for the 13th series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2013 and won the Channel 4 series The Jump,

He's also had two goes at Celebs Go Dating, appeared on Celebrity Ex on the Beach, been pushed to his limits on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, cooked up a stormed on Celebrity MasterChef and popped up in the first series of Splash!

More recently, Joey headed Down Under for the 8th series of the Australian version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, finishing in sixth place and in 2023, he was the runner-up of the 15th series of Dancing on Ice. And now Joey can add Love Island to his impressive reality TV CV.

If he is to find love in the villa, Love Island won't be the first time Joey has navigated a relationship with the cameras on hand to capture everything. Joey first found love with fellow TOWIE cast member Samantha Faiers back in 2011, during the early days of the hit Essex-based show.

Their romance unfolded on-screen for viewers to follow and the pair had an on-again, off-again relationship over three years, which even saw Joey popping the question on the show. But the engagement, however, didn't last long and they called it quits for good while on a TOWIE group holiday in Marbella in 2014.

In between his rollercoaster romance with Sam, Joey enjoyed a brief liaison with model Amy Willerton, whom he met on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2013. Then in 2016, fans were thrilled with the reality TV mash-up when Joey and Made in Chelsea's Stephanie Pratt paired up.

They hit it off on Celebs Go Dating, but their romance fizzled out after just one month. Joey reflected on his time with Stephanie during his second stint on Celebs Go Dating, saying: "I was living for the moment at the time," he confessed. When you're with someone you're happy and then... things change."

He also revealed: "The L-word did get thrown about. I admit that." On Celebrity Juice, Stephanie gushed that they would be "together forever", yet their love story was short-lived. A few weeks later, they parted ways, with Stephanie hinting that hectic schedules and "distance" played a part in their split.

In 2018, Joey found a connection with Love Island bombshell Ellie Brown from season four. After Ellie's split from Charlie Brake, she and Joey were spotted sharing a kiss and later made their relationship Instagram official with another smooch. Their flame burned out quickly, ending after several months.

Two years on, Joey and Ellie crossed paths once more on MTV's celebrity edition of Ex On The Beach. Ellie has set the record straight stating: "Our thing wasn't like a bad split so we were never really on awful terms." Joey then found himself falling for another co-star, Lorena Medina, during their stint on Ex On The Beach in 2019.

While Joey may be known to viewers of the shows he has appeared on for his happy-go-lucky persona and megawhite smile, but the star's life didn't get off to the happiest of starts. The reality TV star was just 10 years old when his mother Tina died via suicide. Tina tragically ended her life in 2001 after secretly struggling with depression, leaving young Joey and his siblings unaware of her inner turmoil.

Speaking in a BBC documentary in 2021, Joey opened up about the deep trauma he experienced following his mother's suicide and revealed that it took him 17 years to even speak about her. "It was only two or three years ago, I think I was 27, where I sort of just started to be able to say 'Mum'," he confessed in the emotional programme Joey Essex: Grief and Me.

The decision to turn his journey of therapy into a television documentary was not only a personal challenge but also a motivational push he felt was necessary. "I feel like I needed a bit of a kick up the arse, to be honest," he remarked. He credited the BBC for their significant role in his therapeutic process: "I feel like the BBC have done me a massive favour."

Displaying his raw emotion during a therapy session with Dr Stephen Blumenthal in the film, Joey became tearful as he recalled the strong affection he felt from his mother when he was young. "She loved me. But if she loved me that much why would she leave? " he questioned in one touching instance, emotionally adding: "I'd throw everything away to spend one hour with her."