Posing in an eye-catching bikini while on holiday in Spain last week, Lauren Goodger aimed to be a sex symbol once again – something she’s aspired to ever since her engagement to Mark Wright ended in 2012, telling Closer at the time, “I feel sexy when I have curves.”
But sunbathing and pouting for pictures wasn’t the only motive for the ex-TOWIE star’s trip to Marbella, as insiders reveal she also made a detour to Majorca to watch her former lover’s best friend James “Arg” Argent perform at a gig.
Check out: TOWIE's most iconic moments
TOWIE's most iconic moments - SLIDER
1 of 15Amy gives Sam a vajazzle
There's no better place to start than the birth of the 'vajazzle', a crystal encrusted pattern that can be applied to a woman's nether regions to make their bits looks fancy and elegant. Beaut babe. After Amy Childs and Sam Faiers filmed this scene and it had aired, this was the only thing the nation was talking about, with salons across the country starting to offer the beauty treatment so fans of the show could replicate their idols and be a true Essex women.
2 of 15Kirk calls Maria an extra
Cast your minds back to when Kirk Norcross and Lauren Pope were a thing (dig deep guys) and Kirk fell out with Lauren's friend Maria Fowler. Obviously, the pair were fighting over literally nothing, but that didn't stop them, as they came head to head in a bar and Kirk ended up calling Maria an "extra". Savage. Things then soured further as Maria started to date Kirk's DAD Mick Norcross, joking that she was Kirk's step-mum.
3 of 15Arg buys Lydia a pig
When James 'Arg' Argent and Lydia Bright joined series 2 of the reality show, they instantly became fan favourites, with their romantic love story wooing the nation. So when Arg bought Lydia a micro pig named Mr Darcy to declare his love for her, they both made us think, 'Would our partner do that for us?'. However, it turned out Mr Darcy wasn't a micro pig and was in fact a normal pig, outgrowing Lydia's back garden and having to be sent to a farm to live.
4 of 15Lauren and Mark get engaged
How could we forget the first ever engagement of TOWIE, with Mark Wright and Lauren Goodger looking loved up and ready to take on the world. They'd been together nearly ten years before they joined the show and their love seemed to blossom as Mark popped the question, confirming his love for the Essex beauty. There was just one thing, they got engaged in a car park. Classy.
5 of 15Sam declares her love for Mark
But there was drama just around the corner, as Sam decided she was in love with the hunk and admitted it to his face, making him question whether he wanted to be engaged to Lauren anymore.
6 of 15Lauren pushes Mark into a swimming pool
Literally, the most iconic moment. Having been questioning his relationship and engagement to Lauren, Mark was having doubts, as was Lauren, after rumours of cheating began to surface and cracks started to show. As Mark headed to a pool party with the rest of the cast, leaving Lauren at home, she was having none of it and decided to unexpectedly turn up. Mark was so surprised and Lauren kicked off, following Mark's comments that she should go back home. She ended up pushing him in the pool and the pair split.
7 of 15Lucy and Mario get engaged
TOWIE has seen many of these but Lucy Mecklenburgh and Mario Falcone's engagement was the most romantic, extra TOWIE scene to air. Away on holiday, sunbathing on a yacht, Mario pulls out a whopper of a diamond and asks Lucy to be his wife. Despite the ups and downs in their relationship, it seemed like the pair were finally settled....
8 of 15Lucy swilling Mario with red wine at a white party
Cue the drama. Lucy and Mario's relationship becomes plagued with cheating rumours, breaks down and they eventually call it quits. Will there ever be a happy ever after on this show? Probably not.
9 of 15Harry's 18th birthday party
A favourite party moment of ours was when Harry Derbridge hosted a fancy dress themed party for his 18th, with many of the cast member going over the top (of course). Harry turned up as Lady Gaga, wowing his attendees but let's not forget the late Nanny Pat who turned up as the actual Queen. Icon.
10 of 15Gemma telling Arg, "You ain't ever gong to get this candy
After Arg and Lydia broke up then got back together then broke up then got back together then finally ended their relationship, Arg moved on with Gemma Collins, otherwise known as the GC. Yet again, it looked like the pair were made for each other but things soon spiralled out of control and the relationship catastrophically ended, with Gemma turning up in front of everyone at a pool party, whacking off her caftan and shouting "You ain't ever going to get this candy". James just stood in the middle of the pool, mouth opened, shocked. We still haven't recovered.
11 of 15Sam and Joey have their first date
Sam and Joey Essex were an unlikely match on TOWIE, seen as though Joey was a few years younger than Sam. However, the pair seemed to get on like a house on fire and decided to see whether their friendship would work as a relationship and Joey took Sam on their first date. But he took her to a dump. His reasoning was that it would be "different" and "cool", but it ended up being stinky and gut wrenching instead.
12 of 15Gemma leaving Mick a pie, and him pieing her off
Kirk's dad Mick was a catch back in the day, owning the legendary club Sugar Hut, where all the cast members would party on and off screen. One cast member who wanted a bit of Mick was Gemma, who lovingly made him a pie and left it on his doorstep to win his affections. However, it didn't seem to work as Mick said he didn't like Gemma in that way and pied her off with her pie. Ouch.
13 of 15When Gemma held an exorcism
Gemma is known for her "GC" persona - the larger than life, savage and diva princess. But in one episode, Gemma decided enough was enough and wanted to show the real her. Therefore, the took the logical conclusion to having an exorcism to get "the GC" persona out of her body. You cannot write this stuff.
14 of 15Joey and Ricky fight in a shop
After Ricky Rayment joined the show, there wasn't an instant connection between him and Joey, after the pair were talking about each other behind each others backs. It all came to a head at the re-opening of Lauren Goodger's beauty salon, with the pair scrapping inside and outside the shop, knocking products over as they fought onto the high street. The fight was seen as so bad, Essex Police were called to stop the pair from fighting. They later apologised to each other and made up.
15 of 15Gemma and Ferne's diva fight
The fight of all fights. In a quiet, suburban town sit three women as they watch Gemma and Ferne McCann have a war with words over who has "earned their divaship". Nothing else needs to be said, except from TV gold.
A source tells Closer, “Since Lauren finished filming Celebs Go Dating at the end of the summer, she’s made it her mission to get back into healthy eating and going to the gym so she felt really confident in a bikini.
“She loves her figure and all the attention she gets. She says all her exes like curves, and she thinks the best way of getting their attention again is by putting her body on display again with these shoots. If it gets Mark looking, then even better.”
The insider reveals how Lauren, 33, met up with Arg, 31, in Majorca after bumping into him in a club in Essex and rekindling their friendship.
Arg told Lauren he would be performing on the island and she offered to fly there to support him, before going on to Marbella for her pre-booked holiday.
Fans quickly questioned why Lauren was pictured in the audience of the gig, referring to Arg’s close friendship with her ex.
Watch: TOWIE's Olivia Attwood on Belle and Anton split | TV Choice Awards 2019
One fan posted, “Hang on I’m confused, is Arg not friends with Mark anymore or something?” while another echoed, “I thought Arg and Mark were mates?”
The source says, “Lauren is really pleased that she’s back on friendly terms with Arg. It was quite spontaneous for them to get back in touch, but she’s thinking she can use this opportunity to her advantage.
“She likes Arg and thinks it’s great they’re mates again, and it’s an added bonus that being close to him will probably wind up Mark.
“Lauren likes to imagine she can drive Mark wild with anger because she knows he hates being connected to her in any way.
“He won’t even be in the same building as her and he hates it when she even publicly mentions his name – so having her back in his friendship group is the worst thing for him, and she knows this.
“He won’t like her bringing up the past with his friends and reminding everyone they used to be together. She’s aware it annoys his wife Michelle, too, and she thinks they’ll constantly be fretting over what she’s found out about their marriage from Arg.
“Nobody likes having their partner’s best mate buddying up with their ex. Mark and Michelle will obviously want Lauren out of their lives, not becoming involved in it through Arg.”
Former childhood sweethearts Mark and Lauren dated for 11 years, and their relationship was plagued by numerous splits, cheating allegations, and an infamous push in a swimming pool.
There have been several fallouts between the two since their break-up, most recently with Lauren – who is currently single after failed romances to former jailbirds Joey Morrisson and Jake McLean – stirring up trouble when she branded her ex’s marriage to Our Girl actress Michelle as “really weird” and claimed they didn’t talk.
She has repeatedly bragged about her former sex life with Mark and, in 2017, she even claimed Mark began dating Michelle when he was still seeing her in 2012.
Her continued references to her and Mark’s past has riled Michelle, 31, causing Mark, 32, to lash out at his ex in a furious Twitter rant in 2015, begging her to “leave me and my wife alone” after Lauren posted a series of cryptic messages in the lead-up to their wedding.
Mark still hangs out with Arg, who joined him and Michelle for a club night in Essex recently, as well as holidaying in Marbella together this summer.
READ MORE
TOWIE's Amber Turner throws MAJOR shade at Chloe Sims with birthday party jibe
James Argent opens up about eating disorder as he drops to 21.7 stone
Michelle was also pictured hanging out with Arg’s on/off girlfriend Gemma Collins, 38, at the National Television Awards earlier this year.
But now Lauren wants to get close to him again, and friends fear there’s a deeper motive.
The source says, “Lauren’s still not over Mark, no matter how much she insists she is. She still blames him for her deep-rooted relationship issues and believes he’s the reason she’s still single.
“She’s got so much pent-up resentment that she believes getting close to Arg will rattle him, and she gets a kick out of that idea.”
Arg and Lauren shot to fame on the first-ever TOWIE series in 2010.
At the time, they were both the closest people to Mark.
Even when Mark left the show, Lauren and Arg continued to work and hang out together.
More recently, Lauren has felt ostracised in Essex by Mark’s influential friendship group.
Two years ago, she claimed her ex had her thrown out of Chigwell restaurant Sheesh before his arrival there – something the owner denies.
In 2016, Mark hosted a documentary to honour the 200th episode of TOWIE but, despite being one of the show’s original stars, Lauren was notably absent – with fans speculating this was down to Mark.
The source says, “Lauren has grown more confident and says she won’t be pushed back into the shadows any more. She is determined to get back on the Essex circuit with the help of Arg – and annoying her ex in the process is the icing on the cake.”
Read even more juicy celeb stories in this week's Closer magazine - out now.