One thing we can say with utter certainty about The Real Housewives of Cheshire is that you can never really predict which cast members are allies or enemies come the start of the new season; it's always been months since the last reunion aired and as fans know all too well, things move fast in Cheshire, so even we (Closer online - hi) are going in somewhat blind come the start of a new season.
Take the Paige Chohan and Seema Malhotra's series 18 feud for example? Where the heck did that come from, exactly? Last time we checked in on these two they were thick as thieves and Paige had issues with Lauren Simon. Cheshire.
Or how about influencer rivals, OG Rachel Lugo and new girl, Ell Egar?
These two spent the majority of series 17 with their horns locked and 'frosty' doesn't seem a strong enough word to describe the tension between them at the last reunion. Then suddenly, series 18 has started and the ladies seem to be the best of friends all of a sudden. They even got through an entire dinner party (the one on the beach in Thailand) without a cross word? A Housewives' DINNER PARTY. What fresh hell is this? Cheshire.
Naturally, when Closer online caught up with new Housewife Ell to chat about the new series (the milestone ten-year anniversary series, we might add), we simply had to ask where things stood between her and Rachel. Is the battle of the influencers really over or is this just a ceasefire?
According to Ell – while things aren't as cordial between her and Nicole Sealey after what went down in Thailand – the rift between her and Rachel has been healed and the youngest Housewife is all about 'growing' and moving forward with her fellow influencer this series.
Ell told us, 'The one thing I can say that has shocked me about this season is the growth of mine and Rachel's relationship. We actually have a big event planned [together] this season, which is something looking back on last season, where we were up to with our friendship, was something that I couldn't necessarily seen happening.'
She continued, 'So the fact that that's come through just shows the growth that can happen with friendships in the show. There are tiffs, but amazing things happen and we create these amazing events together.
'So, the rift is definitely over, so joining forces and empowering each other is definitely the way forward.'
It's giving influencer collab and to be honest – as much as crave the drama – we secretly love to see these wonderful women having each other's backs and achieving incredible things together.
During our exclusive interview, Ell also opened up about the real Paige and shared an update on how Lystra Adams is doing after her most emotional episode to date.