She recently vowed she’d be pregnant by next year and would fly the flag for new mums in their forties, after her on/off boyfriend revealed that he’s ready for “marriage and babies” following his latest stint in rehab.
But insiders say Gemma Collins, 39, is struggling to watch James ‘Arg’ Argent, 32, play ‘happy families’ with his close friend and her former pal, Ferne McCann, and her two-year-old daughter Sunday, whose dad Arthur Collins was jailed, just weeks after she was born, for a nightclub acid attack.
Gemma and Arg have only recently been reunited, after his long-term stint in rehab in Thailand as well as lockdown. But although they are both keen to start a family, insiders say his devotion to Ferne’s daughter is causing some tension.
Former TOWIE stars Gemma and Fernehave a notoriously fiery past, with four-letter tirades and regular on-screen bust-ups.
And it appeared that all is still not well, after Gemma was seen on her Diva In Lockdown show last month complaining about being asked to record a voiceover to promote Ferne’s reality show First Time Mum, with Gemma saying it was “embarrassing” as she’s a “star, not a presenter”.
A source says, “Now Gem and Arg have put their baby plans into first gear, she would like his attention to be focused on starting their own family.
“She’d never want to come across as the jealous girlfriend and she applauds Arg for being such a loyal friend, but it is hard for her to see him with another woman’s baby and watch him play happy families while she’s so desperate to have that herself – especially when it’s with someone she hasn’t always seen eye to eye with.
“She would never come in the way of his relationship with Sunday, but she’s asked Arg to be conscious of her feelings and understand how hard it is for her to have to watch him almost play a father figure.”
Arg – who recently posted a snap of himself FaceTiming Sunday with the caption, “You are the sunshine of my life” – stepped in to support his then-pregnant pal Ferne after Collins was jailed for 20 years for his horrifying April 2017 acid attack in a London club, which left 16 people seriously injured.
In addition to the pals’ gushing tributes to one another on Instagram, Arg became a regular on First Time Mum, which highlighted the close bond he’d formed with the toddler – even helping to plan her first holiday, which he joined.
In one of the snaps he posted following the threesome’s trip to Marbella, Arg gushed, “Love these two girls in my life!”
And pals say that, while Gemma admires Arg for supporting their former TOWIE co-star – with whom she’s had a notoriously spiky relationship over the years – she can’t help but feel a little left out.
The source says, “Since Arg returned from rehab in February, she’s been desperate for quality time with him. But lockdown got in the way of that, and they’ve barely spent any time together for weeks. Now things are easing off, she wants them to hole up together and start nesting, and it’s hard for her when he’s not there.
“She’s happy for him to take a little time out to help Ferne and support her, but she also wants him to focus on her and their plans for the future. She’s spoken to him about it and he’s assured her he won’t make her feel like she’s second best.”
The two women frequently locked horns during their time on the ITVBe show that launched both of their careers.
In one of their many fall-outs, the 29-year-old fitness star branded Gemma “nasty” and said, “no-one likes you” after the self-coined ‘GC’ tried to apologise for calling Ferne a “c**t” when she allegedly told her she needed a gastric band.
And after attempting to call out her rival for her “diva” behaviour, Gemma shot her nemesis down with some of her most iconic lines – “I’m 34 years old. I’ve earned my diva-ship!” and “I hope Santa brings you a sack of morals this year because you need it!”
Following one of her and Arg’s countless splits, which have blighted their turbulent eight-year romance, Ferne hinted last February that she’d taken her friend’s side by posting a gushing tribute to “Uncle Arg” amid a string of heart emojis, despite her pal being shamed for calling his girlfriend a “fat joke” in a string of cruel texts. And pals say Gemma’s toxic history with Ferne makes Arg’s close relationship with her and Sunday a little tense.
TOWIE kids: check out the next generation of Essex stars
TOWIE babies slider
1 of 20Amy Childs
The first of the really big names to come from TOWIE, Amy quit the show in 2011 and welcomed her first daughter, Polly, in 2017. She also has a son from a different relationship who she's kept out of the limelight, but accidentally revealed his name was Ritchie in an interview.
2 of 20Georgina Cleverly
Georgina Cleverley – née Dorset – was only on the show for two series and went on to have a two sons with her footballer hubby Tom, who she keeps off social media.
3 of 20Sam Faiers
Sam is mum to daughter Rosie and a son called Paul, who she named after her husband, also called Paul. "We always wanted him to be named Paul after his dad," she said."It's traditional and we didn't have any other names on the list, so he's Paul, and his middle name is Tony after Paul's brother, his Uncle Tony."She's made a household name for herself and her family with her hit reality show, The Mummy Diaries.
4 of 20Billy Faiers
Sam's lookalike big sister Billie is also a mum to two kids of her own, sharing daughter Nelly (five) and son Arthur (three) with her husband Greg Shepherd.
5 of 20Kirk Norcross
Despite being TOWIE's original bad boy, Kirk has overhauled his image in the last few years to be the ultimate family man. He's dad to son Harry, three, and daughter Violett, four - although Violett doesn't feature on his Instagram after her mum made it clear she didn't want her in the public eye.
6 of 20Maria Fowler
Maria is mum to four-year-old Evie who she shares with husband Kelvin Batey, and earlier this year revealed on Instagram that they were preparing to welcome baby number two.Back in 2018, Maria revealed she had suffered a miscarriage, writing on Instagram, "I feel silly even referring to it as a baby as we were really early in the pregnancy and had not yet had a scan but I did grieve and I did feel like I had lost something very special."I feel it is such a cruel twist of fate to get such happy news and then have it taken away. Just like that. No explanation."
7 of 20Chloe Sims
Chloe was already a mum when she joined the cast of TOWIE back in 2011. Her daughter Madison is now 15, and largely stays out of the public eye, although last year Chloe finally revealed Madison's dad was still a close pal, posting a picture to Instagram and writing, "So lots of people have always been interested in who is Maddie's dad, well, here he is..."I was 18, he was 24... all you nosy f--ckers who wanted to know, here he is!"
8 of 20Dan Osborne
TOWIE lothario Dan Osborne already had a son, Teddy, with ex Megan Tomlin when he joined TOWIE. After he was booted in 2015, Dan married EastEnders star Jaqueline Jossa and they have two daughters together, Mia and Ella.
9 of 20Lucy Mecklenburgh
Lucy Mecklenburgh quit TOWIE all the way back in 2013 and since then has had success as an influencer and fitness guru. In 2020 she welcomed her first child with her fiancé, Corrie actor Ryan Thomas, a son they named Roman.
10 of 20Lydia Bright
How cute is this? Long-term best pals Lucy and Lydia were both pregnant at the same time and gave birth just weeks apart. Lydia is going it alone as a single mother to baby Loretta, after splitting with Loretta's dad Lee Cronin during her pregnancy.
11 of 20Ferne McCann
One of TOWIE's most high profile mums, Ferne McCann welcomed her daughter Sunday in 2017following a difficult few months. Shortly before announcing her pregnancy Ferne's boyfriend Arthur Collins was arrested and charged with an acid attack in an East London club that left two victims blind. And weeks before Sunday was born he was sentenced to 20 years.
12 of 20Mario Falcone
TOWIE OG Mario left the show after 15 series, and in 2018 welcomed a son, Parker Jax,with his fiancée Becky Meisner.
13 of 20Chloe Lewis
Chloe quit the show in 2019 after revealing she'd found herself a new relationship and it wasn't long before she and new man Danny Flasher announced they were expecting. They welcomed a healthy baby boy, Beau Lewis, in October 2019.
14 of 20Jake Hall
Meanwhile, Chloe's TOWIE boyfriend Jake Hall went on to have a family of his own. Despite an at times messy relationshipwith Real Housewives of Cheshire's Misse Beqiri, the couple welcomed a daughter in 2018, who they named River.
15 of 20Billi Mucklow
Billi Mucklow, who left TOWIE in 2013, must certainly have her hands full with her huge blended family with footballer fiancé Andy Carroll. The couple are raising Andy's kids from a previous relationship, Lucas and Emilie, and have two of their own together, Arlo and Wolf. In early 2020 they announced they were expecting AGAIN. Phew.
16 of 20Danielle Armstrong
Danielle Armstrong welcomed her first child with long-term pal Tom Edney in May 2020 after being "pregnant forever" and begging fans for tips on inducing labour. She took to Instagram to update followers on the birth, writing, "My world Is complete ud83dudc76ud83cudffcud83dudc95 Orla Mae Edney Born May 26th at 16:30pm, weighing a healthy 8Ibs11".
17 of 20Lauren Pope
Lauren quit TOWIE in 2019 after a staggering nine years on the show. In July 2020, she and her boyfriend welcome a little girl called Raine Anais Keterman.
18 of 20Sam Mucklow and Shelby Tribble
After a whopping three-day labour, Sam and Shelby welcomed their first child, a boy, in November 2020. "Shelby and our beautiful baby boy are both well and healthy," he wrote on Instagram. "Shelby didn't have a straightforward labour so she has been in hospital for five days. She has been an absolute soldier."
19 of 20Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet
TOWIE's power couple Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet welcomed their baby boy Brody on 5th May, 2021. They even reveal that "Mallet" is not actually Tommy's surname, when they introduced baby as Brody Fordham.
20 of 20Lauren Goodger
After years of dreaming of being a mum, Lauren finally welcomed her first child, a daughter called Larose, In July 2021. Sadly when Larose was just a couple of months old, Lauren split from the baby's dad Charles Drury, but is smashing being a single mum.
The source says, “Gemma genuinely feels for everything Ferne’s been through. But it’s understandably hard for her to watch her boyfriend devote time and support to someone she doesn’t really get on with.
“It only creates added tension between them and brings all of Gemma’s insecurities to the surface.
“She sometimes struggles with the thought of Arg opening up to Ferne and having fun with her and Sunday. “
Watch: Ferne McCann reveals her ultimate beauty tip
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Multimillionaire Gemma – who once said, “I’d happily trade in my Range Rover and Cartier watch for a boyfriend and a baby” – has previously revealed she’s considered freezing her eggs and using a sperm donor to fulfil her baby dream, after suffering from a devastating miscarriage in 2012.
But after losing 3st to help boost her chances of naturally conceiving amid her battle with polycistic ovary syndrome, pals say that Arg – who has revealed that Gemma’s given him his “final warning” to stay clean, following his third rehab stint for drink and drug addiction – has assured her he won’t let her down this time.
The source adds, “Arg has told Gemma to look at his relationship with Sunday as a positive one, insisting he’s learned so much from being around her and that it’s only made him more keen for them to have a baby of their own.
“He’s also urged her to try get along with Ferne. He’s said they don’t have to be best friends, but if they could try be amicable it’d make his life a lot easier, which she’s agreed to attempt to do.
“He’s reassured her that making her happy and having their own brood of ‘mini GCs’ is his number one priority.”
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