If you watched TOWIE in the early days you’ll know that a lot has changed.
There’s no more vajazzles, no pushing people in pools and no more awkward silences. One thing we almost completely forgot happened was when the TOWIE cast members’ had their friends and family on the show.
Well, it turns out that friends and family have been banned from making appearances thanks to Saffron Lempriere.
During an appearance on Chloe Brockett’s podcast, Saffron spilled the tea on what went down – and it surrounded Gemma Collins’ iconic “What’s up, you ill?” row with James Lock and Danielle Armstrong.
“TOWIE [producers] always laugh at this but I did have a massive kick off behind the scenes before I joined TOWIE and it was with the cast.
“So I go to a show day and it was when Gemma and Bobby [Norris] were dressed up for a themed party and they were all in their jewels. Gemma was like, ‘Come on I’m just going to do a scene. We’ll pop there.’
“I turned up at the time I was good friends with Lewis Bloor. I was sat there chatting to him… You used to be able to bring mates and invite guests. So I was enjoying myself.”
She went on to say, “All of a sudden I heard this shouting, I’ve gone in the room and it’s James and Danielle starting on Gemma.
“It all got a bit out of hand and I started chasing Danielle around the room. So they rang me the next day and went, ‘Look just to let you know, that can’t be happening. You can’t be doing things like that.’
“Gemma rang me and went, ‘All family and friends have been banned.’”
Oh, what we’d pay to see Gemma and Saffron vs Lockie and Danielle…
Luckily it appears that TOWIE producers have had a change of heart because in recent series we’ve seen Saffron’s pal Lauren Bayford on the show, Amy Childs’ mum and dad have also made an appearance and Jordan Brook’s mum has even got involved.