After two years of renting a Surrey mansion for an eye-watering £7,000 a month, Sam Faiers and boyfriend Paul Knightley have finally secured their very own pad in the quaint town of Cobham in Surrey.
Sam, 31, and Paul, 33 – along with their children Paul, six, and Rosie, four – have been hunting for the perfect house in the countryside since upping sticks and leaving Essex in 2017, three years after Sam announced her departure from TOWIE – the reality TV show that made her name.
And a source tells Closer that their swish new £2 million mansion is just the start of the soon to be mum-of-three’s new chapter as she aims to become “the new Holly Willoughby”.
The insider says, “Sam and Paul’s new home marks a fresh start for them. Sam’s keen to carve out a new identity for herself and she believes that ditching her Essex roots and immersing herself into the Surrey community – where she’s already made a string of new celeb pals – will help her to create a more exclusive and high-end image of herself.
“It’s further motivated Sam to continue to build her ‘empire’ too. She wants to expand into other countries and even launch her own parenting app and lifestyle platform, like her idol Holly.”
The news follows Sam’s announcement last year that she had signed an exclusive deal with Tesco, said to be worth £3 million, to launch a baby bath range.
And like Holly, Sam has already published her own baby book, My Baby & Me, which was released in 2016, as well as collaborating on a pushchair range with brand My Babiie in 2018.
Check out: the cutest TOWIE babies
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 family’s move comes eight months after Sam revealed she had quit reality show, The Mummy Diaries – which she starred in with sister Billie Faiers – to “focus on new adventures” and give her family a break from continuous filming.
After openly calling Sam “selfish” when she revealed she would be moving to Surrey, sources at the time added that Billie had been left feeling “neglected” by her sister after the sudden decision – which followed 11 years of working together after joining TOWIE in 2010.
Adding fuel to the fire, Sam also found her own tribe of Surrey mums, with new pals including Ashley Cole’s girlfriend, Sharon Canu –whose son Jaxon is friends with Sam’s son Paul – and Apprentice star and businesswoman, Luisa Zissman.
Sources said at the time, “While Billie respected and understood Sam’s reasons for wanting to take a step back, it was upsetting for her because she didn’t want it [the show] to end and was already feeling a bit neglected.”
READ MORE
Billie Faiers’ husband Greg Shepherd unveils results of surgery
Billie Faiers shows off her and Greg Shepherd's renovated home
Billie Faiers shares her £9.90 secret for 'bright and healthy' blonde hair
However, the pair are firmly back on great terms, with Billie recently telling Closer they “see each other all the time”, spending weekends at each other’s houses in a bid to maintain their close relationship and for their children to see each other.
And now friends say Sam is willing to do whatever it takes to give her life a complete overhaul.
The source adds, “While she quit The Mummy Diaries to give her family a break, the real reason was that Sam wanted to try a new direction.
“As well as Holly, she’s watched Kim Kardashian very closely over the years and seen how well she’s done from breaking away from her roots and her family – finding the most success with her solo ventures.
“While Sam loves her family and working with her sister [also on their new podcast, The Sam and Billie Show], she’s keen to step out of her comfort zone by trying new things and she hopes it will enable her to drive her career forward on her own terms.”
However, the last piece of the puzzle in Sam’s bid for the perfect family life is a long-awaited proposal from Paul, who she has been dating since 2014 after meeting at Essex night spot, The Sugar Hut.
The couple have regularly discussed marriage – with Sam previously hinting a wedding could happen following the birth of their third child this spring – and a flurry of wedding and engagement announcements within their close circle has prompted the hopeful bride-to-be to start planning her own dream day.
While sister Billie was married in 2020, fellow TOWIE couple Tommy Mallet and Georgia Kousoulou announced their engagement last week.
“Now they’ve found their forever home, Sam’s hoping Paul will finally pop the question. While she’s content as they are, she wants that security of getting married and being what she thinks of as a ‘proper family’,” the source says.
“Sam would love to get married at home and has already been dreaming up a beautiful marquee in the garden, filled with fairy lights and candles. She wants to have a huge party, so she’s hoping Paul will propose soon!”