Joey Essex pays heartfelt tribute to late mum with rare picture

The former TOWIE star lost his mum age 10

Joey Essex

by Asher Brandon |
Updated on

TOWIE star Joey Essex has paid tribute to his late mother, Tina Essex, by sharing a rare picture of her.

In 2001 Tina took her own life after battling with depression. At the time Joey was only 10 years old and his older sister, Frankie Essex, was 13.

Joey has previously opened up about his struggles coming to terms with grief and last year he publicly spoke about his loss in a BBC documentary titled Joey Essex: Grief and Me.

Earlier this week, Joey took to Instagram and posted a tribute to his mum on her birthday. Sharing a photo of himself and his mum, he wrote alongside the snap, "It don’t get easier, but I do this all for you. I got nothing to prove to anyone but you mum. I’ll keep trying to make you proud.

"Smiling as much as possible. One day I’ll see you again anyway… happy birthday 💔❤️".

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Frankie also took to social media to pay tribute to her mum by sharing a snap of herself, her mum and Joey. She wrote, "Happy Heavenly Birthday to our world our mum 💔 So missed everyday especially on special days like today."

Frankie, who is currently pregnant, also expressed her sadness that Tina would not get to meet her grandchild, adding, "You would have been so excited to be a nanny absolutely breaks my heart even writing this I love you mum I will forever ❤️❤️❤️".

In Joey Essex: Grief and Me, the former TOWIE star turned to therapy after discovering that losing his mum at a young age was negatively impacting his adult relationships, preventing him from being able to find love and start a family.

In the documentary he said, "My mum loved me, but she left me. I just think to myself: If she loved me that much, why would she leave me?

"I’ve had loads of relationships but I always end up pushing them away. Imagine if I was with someone and I had kids with them and I really did love that person and then she left me. I wouldn’t know what to do. I’m already thinking we’re gonna break up before we’re together. I’m pushing it away."

Check out: 9 of the most dramatic TOWIE splits

Gallery

TOWIE dramatic splits - slider

Lauren Goodger and Mark Wright1 of 9
CREDIT: Getty

Lauren Goodger and Mark Wright

Lauren and Mark dated for 10 years but split up in 2011, five months after getting engaged on the show. The pair had a lot of arguments while filming - remember when she pushed in him the pool? However Mark called things off with Lauren following cheating allegations. And despite splitting 10 years ago the pair have still been at odds with Mark going on a Twitter rant about his ex and Lauren accusing him of getting her kicked out of Sheesh.

Lucy Mecklenburgh and Mario Falcone2 of 9
CREDIT: Getty

Lucy Mecklenburgh and Mario Falcone

Lucy and Mario initially split up in 2012, but reunited before calling it quits for good in 2013. They were another couple that got engaged on the show but their relationship constantly consisted of them accusing each other of cheating. It came to an end when Lucy found messages on Mario's phone that were sent to another girl. However we'll never forget the iconic moment when things came to a blow and Lucy threw her red wine over Mario at an all white party. Classic TOWIE.And to make matter between the pair worse, Mario has since admitted he never wanted to propose to Lucy...

Sam Faiers and Joey Essex3 of 9
CREDIT: Getty

Sam Faiers and Joey Essex

Joey and Sam were together for a few months until she decided to split up with him. The following year they got back together and even got engaged but two months later they split. Their breakup was shown on TOWIE with Joey admitted they should call it off and after a lot of tears, Sam walked off. The couple rekindled in 2014 but after six months they ended things for good.

Jessica Wright and Ricky Rayment4 of 9
CREDIT: Getty

Jess Wright and Ricky Rayment

Jess and Ricky dated for two years before splitting up in 2014. She ended things with Ricky during an explosive argument that was aired on TOWIE. Jess had seen that he had been messaging another girl on Twitter. While Ricky tried to deny the accusations at first, he later admitted that he sent "silly" messages and "flirted a little bit" because they were in a bad place.Jess wasn't here for his excuses and screamed at him, "Don't patronise me! Don't dare patronise me! You have humiliated me since day one!"

Ferne McCann and Charlie Sims5 of 9
CREDIT: Getty

Ferne McCann and Charlie Sims

Ferne and Charlie had an on/off relationship for six years, before splitting up for good in 2015. They first broke up when it came out that Charlie had been cheating on Ferne and he continued to see the other girl even after they split. After getting back together, they split up a second time following allegations that Ferne had cheated on Charlie, although she denied it. They then reunited but split for a final time after Charlie had left the show.

Chloe Lewis and Jake Hall6 of 9
CREDIT: Getty

Chloe Lewis and Jake Hall

Jake and Chloe split up in 2016, after dating each other for eight years. They hit a rough patch after he kissed Lauren Pope but they called it quits following rumours that Jake slept with Megan McKenna. Despite the rumours Megan and Chloe still follow each other on Instagram, so who knows what actually happened tbh.

Danielle Armstrong and James Locke7 of 9
CREDIT: Getty

Danielle Armstrong and James Locke

Danielle and Lockie started dating in 2014, and were together for two years before ending things. At the start of their romance, there were cheating allegations and Lockie later confessed that he had been unfaithful. However, Danielle decided to give him another chance. The couple split in 2015 just before Lockie was going to propose to her. Then, after Danielle thought she had seen in change in him, they got back together. This lasted for a few months before they ended their relationship for good in 2016. We briefly saw them onscreen together when Danielle returned to TOWIE in 2017.

Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks8 of 9
CREDIT: Getty

Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks

Pete and Megan were together in 2016 but split up after a year and a half. Even though it wasn't as long as other TOWIE couples, they definitely had a rollercoaster relationship on the show. Megan had found out that Pete had been texting other girls which led to them having a break for a few months. They got back together but had many rows including their infamous argument on the street over pictures of Chloe Sims and Pete together in Amsterdam.It was one of THE most heated arguments on the show and Pete and Megan didn't speak to each other until they both appeared on Celebs Go Dating in 2019, and had the chance to clear up their feud. Oh, and fast forward a few years and it's since come to light that Pete and Chloe have been more than friends for two years...

Courtney Green and Myles Barnett9 of 9
CREDIT: Getty

Courtney Green and Myles Barnett

Courtney and Myles split up in 2018, after being together for just over a year. Rumours of Myles cheating on Courtney had been flying, so they took a break. They rekindled their relationship but things were not working out and Myles surprised Courtney with a trip to Mexico to see if they could make things work. Court chose not to go and the pair split up for good. Their relationship was turbulent to say the least and during one argument, Myles even branded his girlfriend a "dirty dog" and a "sl-g".Following their final split, Courtney dealt with it in the most dramatic way possible by burning a book she had about their relationship and ripping apart the giant teddy bear that Myles had given her when he asked her to be his girlfriend.

Joey Essex: Grief and Me
joey on his documentary ©BBC Three

He continued, "I’ve gone from being a big party boy going out. Now I genuinely do want a family. I want to find true love.

"I think that my life has been too painful for that person to be with. Because I don’t put them through what I’ve been through.

"I know I need to change things now so I’ve decided to look for help."

In the documentary Joey visits clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst Dr Stephen Blumenthal, in an attempt to unpack why his mother's death is holding him back in the present.

WATCH: This Morning's Nik and Eva Speakman on how to combat mental health issues

Joey's documentary is currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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