She shot to fame when she appeared on the fourth series of Love Island, but Zara McDermott didn’t find her Mr Right until she left the villa and met Made In Chelsea’s Sam Thompson. After a brief split in 2020, they moved in together, but while some couples struggle with petty arguments, Zara, 26, insists that she and Sam, 30, have had no such issues, telling heat, “We’re a 50/50 household. We split everything for the house equally.”
Luckily, the arrangement seems to be working, with the pair going from strength to strength over the four years that they’ve been together – and new loved-up pics from a recent trip to the Maldives left fans questioning if they’d even got engaged.
Sadly, it appears that the pair aren’t planning take the next step any time soon, nor are they planning to grow their brood beyond their two cats Cedric and Albus. Zara admits, “They’ve completed our home. It’s so lovely to come home and hear them running to greet us. We genuinely love them like they’re our children, and they’re so much easier to look after, as well!”
A brief look at Zara’s Instagram reveals just how much of an animal lover she is, so it’s no wonder she’s keen to throw her star power behind a campaign with Mars Petcare and Battersea Cats and Dogs Home.
“As a cat parent, I know how much joy pets can bring,” Zara tells heat. “The thought of loving pet owners having to choose between remaining in their home and keeping their pet is just awful, which is why I’m so pleased to be helping pet owners get clued-up with The Petiquette Guide to Rentals and Pet Ownership.”
And when she’s not trying to convince us to adopt every stray kitten in London, Zara reveals that, after making three documentaries for the BBC about issues affecting young women today, there’s plenty more in the pipeline.
“Documentaries are my full-time job now,” she says, adding, “And I’m not just presenting them, I’m also learning to produce them and I’m even doing a camera course – they’ve become such a passion of mine. Whatever I can do to make a difference in the world gives me such gratification. I’d love to create a portfolio of documentaries that includes Revenge Porn and Disordered Eating that can be shown in schools to help teachers start having those tricky conversations.”
Zara has joined forces with Mars Petcare and Battersea to raise awareness of the issues facing pets and renters.