Francesca Farago and Demi Sims were once the definition of love’s young dream, with their whirlwind romance seeing them drop the L-bomb (and get tattoos dedicated to each other) after just six days before Francesca moved to the other side of the world to be with her girlfriend.
But fast forward just a few months and it’s a completely different story as the pair have broken up and are no longer in contact after Demi blocked and deleted Francesca on social media.
A heartbroken Demi broke down in tears to her sisters Chloe and Frankie in a recent episode of TOWIE as she told them, “We just weren’t getting on behind closed doors,” and now Francesca has opened up about the real reason for their split in a new video on her YouTube channel.
The Too Hot to Handle star explained, “We lived together right off the bat and everything was great, and then I got Covid. I got really sick, it kicked my ass. I almost had to go to the hospital. I think that's when things started to go south between Demi and I.
“We were only talking to each other for a few weeks online before we met and then we moved in together right away so we never had that dating period or getting-to-know-you period. I was really, really stressed and I was really frustrated because I didn't really feel like Demi was helping me and I'm moving across the country for this person.”
Francesca continued, “I was spending so much money… It was a lot of effort and work and I just didn't feel like I was being helped out or anything was being reciprocated. There's different things that we expected of a relationship, and [that we] need and want, there's different love languages and ours just didn't match up and that's perfectly fine."
CHECK OUT 11 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...
The Canadian reality star and influencer told fans that she had hoped to stay friends with Demi after their split, but her feelings weren’t reciprocated.
Francesca admitted she’s “not on good terms” with the youngest Sims sister and added, “After the break-up, she just blocked me and deleted me and told me to leave London and just was like: 'You're cut'.
“I didn't think I deserved that because I didn't do anything wrong, and she didn't do anything wrong.
“We just kind of fizzled and there was no more spark. We weren't like having conversations or doing anything fun, we weren't seeing anything in London, the relationship was so blah."
WATCH Ferne McCann on life lessons and TOWIE paranoia: 'I couldn't trust anyone'
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In a move we absolutely didn’t see coming, Francesca sparked rumours she had reunited with her ex-boyfriend Harry Jowsey just under a year after their messy break-up following a series of cryptic TikTok posts.
Francesca sent the rumour mill into overdrive when she hinted she had fallen for one of her exes in a video shared with her 2.4million TikTok followers. In the short clip, Francesca said she was planning on being single after splitting from Demi before teasing that an ex had thrown a spanner in the works.
Although she didn’t name any names, Francesca’s followers were convinced she was referring to Harry and their suspicions only grew stronger when he reposted a video of them as a couple. Alongside the clip of them kissing, he wrote, “Damn a year since this happened, hope you’re doing well bucko 💜.”
Francesca fuelled the fire even more when she commented on Harry’s post, writing, “That’s cute,” to which he replied, “Hi stranger 😳.”