It was supposed to be a romantic break in Amsterdam for Olivia Attwood and Chris Hughes.
Filmed for their joint reality show back in 2018, the pair – who had met a year before on dating series Love Island – had hoped a trip away would would help smoothe over some toxic problems in their relationship. But it did the opposite: the couple had their most explosive row ever in a taxi, captured on camera for all to see.
As Chris emerged from the car, he was sobbing.
‘She’s such a golden girl, she can never do anything wrong,’ he explained to the cameras. ‘She’s all over two blokes in the club, holding some bloke’s hand. If I did that she wouldn’t even be going to Amsterdam. I just don’t want to be with her.’
Olivia then explained her side, saying: ‘Chris is a vomiter. He vomits his emotions on you, whether he’s angry, sad. If he’s sad, he’ll cry. If he’s angry, he’ll scream until he’s blue in the face and you just have to take it.’
Filmed for the second episode of the newly commissioned ITV2 reality series Chris and Olivia: Crackin’ On, the ugly row made shocking viewing. Viewers had already seen the pair bicker in the Love Island villa – but this was just toxic.
On another occasion, the couple had a ferocious fight over Olivia’s flirtatious behaviour on a night out.
‘You literally act like a little innocent little baby,’ Olivia screamed at Chris. ‘You’re such a good boy, but how many arguments have we had in private about the way you are with other girls?’
The heated argument left Chris distraught, as he admitted: ‘That was wrong. What can I do when I’m wrong?’ Viewers were quick to describe Olivia’s behaviour as ‘gaslighting’ on social media.
In another row, Olivia screamed: ‘All you care about is your self image and what other people think of you. You’ve never cared about me.
An emotional Chris replied: ‘Well don’t speak to me ever again.’ He then shouted: ‘F*** this s***’ before threatening to walk out.
Olivia replied: ‘You’re f***ing mean and you always have been. You always have been f***ing nasty.’
Although the show was seen by ITV bosses as a ticket to win over younger viewers, even the most drama-obsessed viewers found Chris and Olivia’s bitter fighting too much to handle.
The programme was supposed to follow the Love Island starlets as they moved into a luxury house together. They were beautiful, marketable and apparently very loved up – and it was slated to be a six-episode series.
But insiders claim that much of the footage was so nasty that they only ended up releasing three episodes. Tellingly, despite Chris and Olivia’s lasting popularity, the series is no longer available to watch on ITVX, the broadcaster’s streaming platform.
By the time the series aired, the couple had split over a ‘breach of trust’ amid rumours Olivia sent late-night flirty messages to her ex Bradley Dack. Olivia went on to marry Bradley – but the pair split last week.
Sources tell me that Chris struggled with how he was treated in the relationship.
‘Chris is literally the nicest guy you could meet,’ says a friend of Chris. ‘He is often referred to as the nicest man in showbiz. Nobody has a bad word to say about him.
‘But Olivia went for him on their show and it was very difficult for him. Viewers would often say that she gaslit Chris and humiliated him. It was horrible.’
Today, Gloucestershire-born Chris, 33, is dating American dancer, singer and actress JoJo Siwa, 22, after they met while starring on another ITV reality show, Celebrity Big Brother, last year.
Friends of the couple say that they are ‘besotted’ with one another – but also that they are thrilled that Chris has found someone who adores him in a ‘way that he deserves’. Those close to them expect them to get married.
In May 2025, despite being settled down with Bradley, Olivia took a swipe at Chris and his blossoming romance with JoJo when she posted a new video of herself mouthing along to the lyrics of the Connie Francis song Pretty Little Baby.
When it came to the words ‘pretty little baby’, Olivia enthusiastically mimed them while fluttering her eyes – apparently imitating JoJo. She then fell into laughter as her now estranged husband Bradley drew her close and kissed her on the forehead.
Olivia captioned her video: ‘I just know this is going to trigger people so badly.’
Friends of Chris were furious – especially because they claim Olivia has consistently tried to undermine her ex since the split.
Although both have accused each other’s reps of leaking stories to the Press, Chris has claimed Olivia damaged his reputation by writing ‘lies’ in her Grazia advice column that he had touched girls’ backsides in a club.
Today, Chris’s friends are just relieved that he found those messages from Olivia to her ex.
‘Imagine if he hadn’t’, said one, ‘she might be with him now still and that would be truly horrifying. She’s vile.’
