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Sam Thompson has broken his silence on ex Zara McDermott’s ‘hard launch’ with Louis Tomlinson as he heartbreakingly admitted he ‘wouldn’t wish it on worst enemy’.
Zara officially announced her relationship with Louis on Instagram earlier this month with a very PDA post, five months after they were first linked to be dating.
The former Made In Chelsea star, 33, and former Love Islander split in December 2024 after five years together, with Zara moving out of the pair’s home.
While fans went wild for Zara, 28, and Louis’, 33, hard launch, for Sam, it wasn’t the easiest thing to see.
Speaking on his Staying Relevant podcast, he said: ‘I’m watching some YouTube video and my phone just starts blowing up. I thought I’d been cancelled!
Sam continued: ‘Mate it’s dinged up, you know when everyone is like, “Just checking in mate, is everything ok?” and I’m looking at my phone like “What is going on?”
‘And genuinely you know what it’s like when you don’t quite know what’s happened so you think the worst.
‘Tell you what though, I wouldn’t wish a hard launch on my worst enemy though.’
Zara hit headlines when she was linked to the One Direction superstar earlier this year when they were spotted enjoying a secret date.
She seemed to prove things are certainly serious as she sent fans wild with a snap of them locking lips for a very cheeky selfie.
She captioned the post with a simple red love heart emoji. Louis commented, ‘I love you’ under the picture of them kissing.
The post sent fans crazy as they rushed to the comments to gush over their relationship.
They penned: ‘Crying screaming, throwing up cuties omg… I’m freaking out OMGGG SO PROUD OF YOU… Such a beautiful couple. I’m so happy for you.
‘THAT’S SO CUTE… IM GONNA CRY THIS IS THE CUTESY THING EVER… AMAZING COUPLE MAN.’
It was first revealed five months ago that Zara and Louis were dating after they struck up a romance at the start of the year, but now friends say it’s serious.
An insider told the Sun: ‘Louis and Zara dated out of the public eye for a while before going public so they could make sure this was the real deal.
‘They’ve both never been happier and are a lovely couple. Louis and Zara are both very career driven and support each other’s endeavors.’
Meanwhile, Sam has admitted he’d had an ‘uncomfortable’ start to the year after he and Zara split up.
The TV personality insisted that sometimes a difficult period can ‘shock’ someone into making a much-needed change in their life.
Appearing on his close friend Pete Wicks’ Man Made podcast, he candidly reflected on the past year following the split and how he has evolved.
He said: ‘It’s such a weird one because I still look to people for help all the time. I look to you, if I’m ever in a problem, I’ll call you, I’ll call Marvin, I’ll call Tony, I’ll call Ryan, my brother-in -law, I’ll call Louise.
‘I have a lot of people who I depend on and as much as I love that, I still feel inside like I’m not quite at the place where I can take care of myself.’
Pete asked: ‘So do you think then that asking people for help or being dependent on other people makes you less of a man?’
Sam clarified: ‘Asking for help, no. I think I lean a little bit too heavily into the depending.’
Sam and Zara ended their relationship in December, following a holiday season spent separately.
A source close to the couple told Daily Mail at the time: ‘Sam and Zara have ended their relationship. It’s been an incredibly difficult decision for them to part ways, they still care and have a lot of love for each other.
‘But after a tough year of working hard at their romance, they have split and will be focusing on their individual careers going forward into 2025.
‘There has been no scandal or fallout between them, it’s just the result of a difficult year, where they both had to spend a lot of time focused on their own projects.’
The couple were last seen together celebrating Zara’s birthday in December, where Sam dedicated an Instagram post to his girlfriend, calling her his ‘soulmate’ and ‘best friend.’
