He gave us the shock of our lives when he entered the Love Island villa as the first ever celebrity bombshell, but now it’s time for Joey Essex to be on the receiving end of a surprise himself when his ex Grace Jackson arrives in Majorca, alongside Wil Anderson and Tiffany Leighton.
A preview clip shows Joey covering his mouth in shock before exclaiming, “I used to see that girl, bruv… that blonde girl.”
Joey’s sister Frankie Essex, who previously appeared alongside him on TOWIE, has now given a bit more of an insight into their history.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Frankie admitted that she has never met Grace despite her romance with Joey.
However, it turns out that Frankie’s partner Luke Love does know the 25-year-old Manchester-based model and social media agency owner.
“I don't know nothing about her, but my partner does,” Frankie said. But when GMB’s showbiz correspondent Scarlette Douglas quizzed her about what Luke had told her about Grace, Frankie added, “Nothing. So thanks, Luke.
“I just know as much as you know."
It doesn’t take long for Joey and Grace’s past romance to come to light in her debut episode as his partner Samantha Kenny quickly notices Joey’s reaction to Grace’s arrival.
“Do you know her?” she questions Joey, who replies, “Yeah…it’s a long story man…”
Grace sheds some more light in a conversation with Nicole Samuel when she says, “So, we met last year in Ibiza and it's actually funny because he's not my type at all. We had a bit of a holiday romance. It carried on when we were back home.
“It was quite intense. We were seeing each other for a few months.”
But it appears things didn’t end well as Grace continues, “It kind of ended a little bit frosty to be honest and we've not really spoken since.”
How will Grace and Joey’s unexpected reunion play out? And will it throw a spanner in the works for him and Samantha? Eeek, we can’t wait to see what happens next.
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Nathan Katnoria is heat and Closer online’s senior digital writer. He became obsessed with Love Island when Malin Andersson came back to confront Terry Walsh in series two and hasn’t looked back since. When he’s not interviewing former Islanders, Nathan is scrolling through their Instagram feeds for relationship updates and piping hot tea.