It’s been 13 years since Lauren Goodger and Mark Wright ended their tumultuous 10-year romance in a series of explosive TOWIE altercations – including that epic pool party scene.
But after a decade of tit-for-tat, as the fiery pair both laid the blame at each other’s feet before going on to live dramatically different lives, Lauren opened up on Celebs Go Dating host Paul Brunson’s new podcast last week.
Candidly describing the hurt she felt after the break-up during the teary interview, Lauren, 37, declared that Mark, who married Michelle Keegan in 2015, was ‘the love of my life’ and shared her regret that they ‘could have made it work’ had they been supported.
Now a source reveals how Mark, 37, has been left ‘fuming’ over the emotional chat, but says Lauren is fed up with putting others first and wants Mark to acknowledge her and the pain he caused.
The insider says, ‘Speaking up is Lauren’s therapy – it’s not about Mark, it’s about her own self-worth. Her chat with Paul showed years of internal conflict and she’s ready to let her demons go.
‘She’s had it with tip-toeing around Mark and the truth. She feels like she was dropped because she wasn’t high-profile enough for him – even his family distanced themselves and that hurt.
‘She doesn’t care how it makes him feel and hopes maybe now he’ll understand. Lauren wants him to say sorry.’
Recalling how they fell in love at school and were inseparable from the age of 15, Lauren revealed, ‘I never, ever thought I was going to love anyone else. We grew up together… he was the love of my life… I don’t think that sort of love from childhood goes away.’
But after joining The Only Way Is Essex – the show that catapulted them to reality superstardom almost overnight – in 2010, their relationship began to take a toxic turn.
Viewers followed several break-ups and make-ups – with Mark being involved in brief romances with both Sam Faiers and Lucy Mecklenburgh – before they finally ended their decade-long relationship just months after their 2011 engagement.
Lauren admits Mark’s flings ‘tore her apart’, but added, ‘He felt just as I did, we’d have the same jealousy, the same tit for tat, making each other jealous and then getting back together. He couldn’t be without me and I couldn’t be without him.’
Instead, it was Mark’s desire to quit TOWIE and pursue a career in LA that finally ended things for good. A year later, he was in a relationship with Corrie star Michelle Keegan.
Lauren, meanwhile, moved on to a series of rocky romances with Jake Mclean, Joey Morrison and Charles Drury, who she welcomed her three-year-old daughter Larose with in 2021, before tragically losing her newborn Lorena just minutes after her birth the following year.
Now the source says that, although Lauren is ‘proud’ of Mark’s career, returning to TOWIE earlier this year has made her reflect on their ‘strange’ separation today, which she admits has seen them standing in an Essex gym queue together and him refusing to even acknowledge her.
In another painful reminder of what could have been, Lauren emotionally admitted she had watched on as Mark switched their shared dream of building a home together to a life with Michelle.
She said, ‘I remember once he took me to this place near where we lived and said, “I’m going to have a house and I’m going to build it. Do you want that?”
‘Of course I do, because I want to have kids in it and I want to get married. And he has done it, but he’s moved on. It’s not with me.’
Now the insider says Lauren can’t help but feel that the ‘silver tower’ he has built around himself with Michelle has all but locked out her and their shared past together.
‘There’s no mistake that Lauren wishes for how it could and should have been, and the return to TOWIE brought memories flooding back, but not all good ones – mostly the ghost of time gone past.
‘What gets her is that he’s always thought she’s been obsessed with him, when at times it’s been the opposite. She wants to let it go but finds it painful that Mark has built this silver tower around him and she’s continued to put herself at the bottom of the pile.’
Yet, following her chat with Paul, the source says Lauren is finally ready to rebuild her life after bravely admitting she is struggling with her mental health.
The insider adds, ‘Lauren has spent so many years thinking about others and now, at last, something has clicked. She has finally realised that she is the person who needs support after being so let down.
‘She’s putting herself, her feelings and emotions out there. She has so much more to say and there’s no stopping her now.’