Francesca Farago and Demi Sims were the definition of love’s young dream back at the start of the year when they became an official couple during a romantic beach proposal.
Francesca even got Demi’s name tattooed on her bum after just SIX days of meeting, but fast forward four months and it’s a totally different story as they confirmed they’d split last week.
It seems her cross-reality romance with the TOWIE star has put Francesca off having relationships in the public eye, as she’s vowed to keep future partners out the spotlight after being “bullied” and “harassed” while dating Demi.
Francesca opened up while taking part in the Show Me A Picture Of challenge on Instagram when one fan asked her to show “a picture of your girlfriend”.
The Too Hot to Handle star replied, “Demi and I are not together anymore and I don’t really feel like being open about my personal life anymore with you guys.
“We were, me specifically, really bullied after the break-up and even during the relationship.”
CHECK OUT the jaw-dropping TOWIE couples you completely forgot about
11 TOWIE couples you completely forgot about - slider
1 of 11Mark Wright and Sam Faiers
Mark and Sam's on/off relationship goes all the way back to when she was 16 and they met on MySpace (aw, those were the days). They briefly dated during their time on TOWIE but were never able to give things a proper go before he quit the show in 2011.
2 of 11Kirk Norcross and Amy Childs
Kirk and Amy's flirtationship was one of the main storylines during the first season of TOWIE and they eventually briefly dated before splitting in 2011. In a 2013 appearance on This Morning, Kirk admitted, "I will still love Amy until the day I die - she is literally like the girl version of me. When it didn't work out, it broke my heart really... and it wasn't her fault, it was both of our fault."
3 of 11Gemma Collins and Charlie King
Gemma and Charlie briefly dated in 2012 but split after she grew concerned about his friendship with Bobby Norris. Two years later, Charlie came out as gay during an appearance on This Morning. He's still friends with Gemma and even admitted in 2017 that he would consider being the GC's sperm donor if she asked.What a turn of events that would be.
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4 of 11Lauren Goodger and Tom Pearce
Remember the days when Joey Essex's BFF Tom Pearce romanced basically every woman within a 10 mile radius of Brentwood? Lauren Goodger became one his many conquests following her split from Mark Wright but they hit the rocks when she caught wind of him bragging about their rendezvous.
5 of 11Mario Falcone and Chloe Sims
It's fair to say Chloe Sims has been unlucky in love over the years but things looked up for her when she began dating close pal Mario. Things moved quick for the pair and she even admitted she loved him - causing friction with BFF Lauren Pope who'd previously dated Mario - but he wasn't ready to settle down and called things off.
6 of 11Harry Derbidge and Bobby Norris
After three years away from the TOWIE scene, OG cast member Harry Derbidge returned as Bobby Norris' boyfriend (in some very skimpy swimwear, nonetheless) during the cast's annual jaunt to Marbs.Their relationship ended in tears though when Harry confessed to sleeping with his ex while on holiday in Tenerife.
7 of 11Dan Osborne and Lucy Mecklenburgh
They've now found love with soap star other halves Jacqueline Jossa and Ryan Thomas but before that, Dan Osborne and Lucy Mecklenburgh were an item.They began dating in 2013 but called it quits amid claims he knew about his ex Megan Tomlin being pregnant before getting with Lucy.
8 of 11Charlie Sims and Ferne McCann
Ferne McCann's on/off relationship with Chloe Sims' brother Charlie provided LOTS of dramz on TOWIE over the years, with rumours she cheated on him cropping up more than once.Eventually Charlie publicly quit the show AND dumped Ferne at the same time in a series of tweets in 2014. Awks...
9 of 11Dan Edgar and Kate Wright
Before she wed footballer Rio and became Mrs Ferdinand, Kate Wright joined TOWIE as the ex of Dan Edgar, who reportedly dumped her to star in the show.She took him back after his romances with Lauren Pope and Jess Wright but it wasn't to be and they eventually split for good.
10 of 11Shelby Tribble and Tom McDonnell
Tom McDonnell joined TOWIE alongside a whole host of newbies including Harry Lee and Chloe Brockett in 2019 and soon caught the eye of Shelby Tribble following her split from Sam Mucklow.Sam soon came back on the scene though and Shelby dumped Tom to reunite with her ex. Sam and Shelby later quit the show together and are now expecting their first child.
11 of 11James Argent and Jasmin Walia
In between his long-running relationships with Lydia Bright and Gemma Collins, James Argent was set up on a blind date with Jasmin Walia and they appeared to hit it off. Things seemed to move too quickly for his liking though, causing him to run from her house after being introduced to her parents. Oh, Arg...
She continued, “A lot of fans were very rude and extremely harassing me, so I learned the hard way to keep my personal life personal.
“So, from now on, you guys are never going to know who I’m dating and you’re never going to know who I’m talking to because I don’t need to go through that again,” before throwing up the peace sign to the camera.”
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After moving to the UK to be closer to Demi, Francesca announced they were no longer an item last week as she explained their “heartbreaking situation”.
She wrote, “I really didn't want to have to address this today, but I am already getting attacked on social media so I might as well bite the bullet since I have no choice. Demi and I are no longer together. We decided to go our separate ways this morning.”
Although she added, “Nothing bad happened,” Francesca revealed that Demi had blocked her as “seeing me on social media would be too difficult for her”.
Following a brief break from her socials, Demi later returned to Instagram after “taking time to heal.”
She told fans, “I would appreciate no negative comments only positivity from here onwards please.”