Yazmin Oukhellou speaks after death of boyfriend Jake McLean in car crash

The Only Way Is Essex star Yazmin Oukhellou has spoken out for the first time after the death of her boyfriend Jake McLean, who died in a car crash in July.

On Tuesday (16 August), the reality TV star shared a tribute to her late boyfriend, writing: “I am so grateful for our memories and the special time that Jake and I shared.

“I’ve not stopped thinking about him and I’ll miss him always. He will forever hold a special place in my heart.”

In July, McLean died in the crash after his car went over a cliff in Bodrum, Turkey, as he and Oukhellou returned from a night out.

McLean was driving a car with Oukhellou as a passenger and lost control of the vehicle. The car then fell off a cliff, a source told The Sun Online.

Locals at the scene said that, although emergency services tried to attend to McLean, they were unable to save him.

“I have been taking some time away from social media to fully focus on my mental and physical recovery,” she wrote in her Instagram post. “I needed this time away to work on healing and processing everything as best as I can.

“This has taught me that life is so short and we must cherish our loved ones as much as possible.”

In a July interview with The Sun, Oukhellou explained that McLean was driving and she was asleep in the passenger seat.

She told the outlet it felt like the car was “just tumbling for what seemed like forever” and she felt like she was “going round in a washing machine”.

Oukhellou added: “Then eventually it stopped and my right arm was jammed.

“The car was upside down. It had an open sunroof and my right arm was just stuck behind my back and under the folded back of the car roof.

“I tried to honk the horn with my foot and I couldn’t do it.”

Oukhellou and McLean had an on-and-off relationship for years. She was in Turkey, where McLean had been away with friends, in an effort to reconcile with him.