Zara McDermott is one of those rare celebs that has appeared in not one, not two, but three of some of the best reality shows the UK has to offer. She has been a cast member of Made in Chelsea, Love Island and now Strictly Come Dancing. Now that is a success story. She has also hosted Love in the Flesh and multiple documentaries for the BBC
As she enjoys a strictly platonic relationship with Graziano Di Prima on Strictly Come Dancing 2023, here’s the famous faces she's stepped out with.
Zara McDermott and Adam Collard
Zara met two-time Love Island bad boy Adam Collard when they were both contestants on Love Island 2018. At the time, Adam had been getting to know Rosie Williams, but quickly decided that he and Zara had a better connection. Although Zara was dumped from the Island after ten days, she and Adam reunited on the outside and were in a relationship for eight months.
After the split, Zara posted an Instagram Story saying that the relationship had been bad. She wrote, “At the start of the year I finally walked away from a toxic relationship that was more damaging than I knew. It stripped me of all my confidence going through this in the public eye.”
Zara McDermott and Sam Thompson
Zara and Sam became Instagram official in June 2019 after a month of dating when Sam posted a selfie of the pair captioned, “I can think of worse Saturdays.” Zara commented, “My favourite person.” In 2019, she joined the cast of Made in Chelsea as his girlfriend. They went through a very public break-up in September 2020 after Zara admitted to cheating on Sam, but they got back together three months later.
After their reconciliation, Sam told MailOnline, “I believe in forgiveness. I understand the context – and I think in any walk of life you can't move forward unless you forgive.
“Forgiveness allows you to heal. You can only heal when you forgive the other person and get over that.
“I would definitely say no matter what you should always try to forgive, and you'll feel better in yourself – it's f***ing easier said than done but you've got to strive for that.” The pair now share a home in south London, and frequently feature on each other’s TikTok accounts.
Zara McDermott and The X Factor's Brahim Fouradi
Okay, not exactly a boyfriend, but this cheating scandal did put a wedge between her and Sam, and led to a brief break-up. Zara was a contestant on the short-lived The X Factor: Celebrity in a group called No Love Lost with fellow Love Island alumni, Samira Mighty, Wes Nelson and Eyal Booker.
While competing on the show, rumours swirled about Zara and music industry executive working on the show, Brahim Fouradi. These rumours turned out to be true, and Zara posted a long apology to Sam on her Instagram.
She wrote, "Hey everyone, I just wanted to address the recent speculation in the media. A huge mistake I made a year ago has recently come to light and I want to face this head on.
"I don't condone being unfaithful and I made a huge mistake at a time in my life where I was hugely selfish and immature. I believe I have learnt so much from my mistake.
"I want to apologise to my Sam for everything I have put him through, for the pain, the embarrassment, the anger and the hurt. All I want to do is make this right and I think the least he deserves is me being honest with myself and all of you. I love you Sam. Forever.”