Sam Faiers and Billie Shepherd have been busy filming for their new reality show, Sister Act. And earlier this month, the famous siblings spent the weekend with their mum Suzie and stepdad Dave as the cameras followed them on a luxury glamping retreat.
Sharing snaps with her 2.5million Instagram followers, Sam, 34, wrote, ‘What an adventurous 24 hours we’ve just had – our first trip as just the four of us in 20 years. No electricity, no phones, just reminiscing and soaking up the beauty of simple living. It was perfect.’
Echoing Sam’s sentiments, an insider tells heat that the trip was exactly what she and Billie, 35, needed.
‘It was just the four of them, so they could really talk about some tricky topics,’ our source says. ‘Sam and Billie have always been super-close, but Billie felt Sam was trying to push her away when she moved to Surrey – Billie and Suzie often found it hard to fit into Sam’s new social scene. It was quite upsetting, as they always thought they’d live around the corner from each other and their kids would see each other every day. Billie felt pushed out for a bit, but Sam felt she had to be a bit selfish in order to push herself and achieve her goals.’
The sisters shot to fame on TOWIE, with Sam joining as an original cast member in 2010, and elder sister Billie becoming a regular from season two. They got their own show, The Mummy Diaries, in 2016, but five years later, Sam left Billie ‘devastated’ when she announced she was quitting the series. Though Billie continued to do the show solo for several more series, a source told heat at the time, ‘Billie’s told friends it feels like they’ve split up.’
It was also reported that the pair began drifting apart after Sam uprooted from Essex to her £2.25m dream home in Surrey in 2020 – a decision her big sister didn’t immediately approve of. ‘I was a bit shocked,’ Billie admitted on The Mummy Diaries. ‘I was like, “Why do you want to live in Surrey when all your family live in Essex? Trying to get away from us, are you?” I actually think it’s quite selfish for her to move, because I won’t be able to see [baby] Paul as much.’
Despite Billie’s misgivings, the sisters apparently started to repair their relationship after Sam – who shares Paul, nine, and Rosie, seven, with partner Paul Knightley – welcomed third baby Edward in 2022.Billie also had her third child later that year.
In a joint post promoting their new series, Sam and Billie wrote, ‘We’re so excited to be back together for a brand new series… The show will follow us as we navigate our careers, motherhood, and relationships.’
So, it appears that any bad blood is firmly in the past, much to the relief of mum Suzie and Billie – who has children Nelly, 10, Arthur, eight, and two-year-old Margot with her husband Greg.
‘Although they had started to patch things up with Sam, Billie and Sue were still worried that she wanted to keep her distance by staying in Surrey,’ the insider says. ‘But Sam’s said her moving had nothing to do with them – it was something she felt she just needed to do to take the next step. It’s hard for Sam, because as much as she loves living in Surrey, she misses being really close to her mum and sister. But they’ve talked everything through, and now it’s about spending time as a big family with sleepovers, weekends away and holidays.’
The source adds, ‘Now that Sam is happier in her personal and professional life, she feels she can go back to her roots – filming shows with Billie and working on improving their relationship.’
