As much as we live for reality shows like The Real Housewives of Cheshire, TOWIE and Love Island, any good reality TV obsessive knows that all the REAL drama takes place off-camera these days. Let's be honest, in 2025, if you want the real reality telly star drama, all you need to do is follow your faves on social media.
Take the latest feud to erupt amongst The Real Housewives of Cheshire alumni - there's no chance this is ever going to be played out on series 18 (mainly because it was all filmed earlier this year and one of the Housewives in question stepped away from the show in 2020), but it's currently playing out very publicly on social media and in the press.
According to reports, former besties Christine McGuinness (who appeared on The Real Housewives between 2018 and 2020) and series OG Tanya Bardsley (who is currently a guest Housewife and recently launched her own spin-off show, The Bardsley Bunch) are at serious odds, with a source claiming 'there is no way back' for the former friends.
It's claimed that the pair suffered a 'devastating falling out' last year due to Christine allegedly feeling that Tanya 'ditched her' during her time of need, despite Christine previously being 'really supportive of Tanya through her mental health struggles.'
A source told The Sun, 'Christine was always really supportive of Tanya through her mental health struggles but she feels like Tanya ditched her and wasn't there for her when she has been going through her own stuff.'
The insider then added that the rift was exacerbated to breaking point when Tanya allegedly 'poached' Christine's best friend Catherine Farrell to work for her.
Catherine is now working very closely with Tanya on Haus of CEO (a luxury content studio for brands and content creators), and she's even popping up on camera in The Bardsley Bunch.
News of the raging rift between Christine and Tanya hit headlines earlier this week, and Tanya has since clapped back publicly, claiming that, in fact, Christine was the one 'betrayed' her, going on to accuse Christine of 'selling stories' on herself 'again'.
Sharing a screen grab of a news article with her 585,000 followers on her Instagram story, Tanya wrote, 'Wow other way round!!! Someone has been selling stories on herself again I see 👀.'
Christine has not posted anything about the circulating articles or indeed the rift with Tanya.
Closer online have reached out to Tanya and Christine's reps for comment.