TOWIE icon Joey Essex’s love life is back in the spotlight now that he’s on Love Island and it’s fair to say that he’s been linked to a lot of ladies since rising to fame on the ITVBe show back in 2011.
As well as relationships with Sam Faiers and Celebrity Ex on the Beach girlfriend Lorena Medina, fans will probably remember that Joey has been linked to the likes of Rita Ora, Maura Higgins and Love Island 2018 contestant Ellie Brown.
But Joey was also rumoured to be dating another big name from Essex back in 2012, years before they ever joined the cast of TOWIE: none other than Amber Turner.
Pictures of a pre-fame Amber leaving London nightclub Mahiki hand-in-hand with Joey, which were originally taken in 2012, resurfaced online back in 2022 and they left us shook to our very core.
Amber and Joey were also snapped chatting to each other inside the hotspot before making their way to the exit together and eventually speeding off in a black cab. Together.
Amber was roughly 18 years old at the time, while Joey would have been around 21.
Although it’s not known whether Amber and Joey kept in contact after their night out, the pictures were taken while Joey was in the middle of an on / off relationship with Sam Faiers.
Sam had dumped Joey just a few months prior but they were later spotted kissing on a date, leading fans to speculate they had reunited.
The pictures of Joey and Amber even got a mention on TOWIE as Sam fumed to sister Billie about him “taking another girl home”.
At the time, Sam told Billie, “I’ve woken up this morning to find out Joey went home last night with another girl. Everyone saw it. He was with her all night.
“He went home with her, he walked out the club holding her hand, they got a cab, just two of them, and went home."
She added, “He knows full well he's done wrong,” to which Billie replied, “He's let himself down."
However, Joey later insisted, “The girl last night means nothing to me,” and although he and Sam split at the time, they later reconciled and even got engaged before splitting for good in 2014.
Amber joined TOWIE in 2017, five years on from her night out with Joey, and went on to date his close friend Dan Edgar on and off for six years. Amber and Dan split for good last year and he's since moved on with Ella Rae Wise.