Elliott Wright is set to pull a Zayn Malik and quit TOWIE – but he only told girlfriend Chloe Sims on last night's episode.
At the start of the show, Chloe was seen at Gemma Collins' boutique complaining about the lack of space Elliott gives her, saying things always get heated when she tries to take time out for herself.
But afterwards, Elliott dropped the bombshell that he was moving to Spain for a business opportunity – apparently to run a £2million restaurant in Marbella.
"It means me leaving Essex. I don't know if we can work it out. If I do go, I'm going to miss you," he told a shocked Chloe.
"You've just dropped a bomb that you might be leaving Essex," said Chloe, while getting emosh.
Elliott then added: "I don’t want to go over there thinking about if you and me could have worked out."
It looks like Elliott will be in TOWIE until the Easter Sunday finale and may well appear in later TOWIE specials when the cast heads over to Marbella.
An insider told The Sun that Elliott was inspired by Mark Wright's decision to use the show as a "launch pad to better things" – although Elliott's career hasn't quite taken off in the way he'd hoped.
"He hasn't closed the door completely on TOWIE but accepts it will be hard to be a regular presence," the source added.