Since formally announcing her TOWIE comeback earlier this month, the excitement has been building for Lauren Goodger’s long-awaited return to the show that catapulted her to fame in 2010.
But as fans revel in the “OG’s” resurgence, the question on everybody’s lips is whether Lauren, 37, will be looking for love again.
And insiders tell Closer that while romance is not a priority for Lauren at the moment, she is hopeful that Mr Right is on the horizon.
A source explains, “Lauren’s attitude is very much ‘love will find me’. She won’t stay single forever, but her focus is her comeback – she doesn’t want her private life on the romantic side to be played out on camera from day one. Lauren is not short of admirers, and she has noticed someone, but has no plans to be swept off her feet just yet.”
The insider adds, “Lauren is adamant that, whoever he is, he won’t change her. She’s feeling like a strong, independent woman and is happy with her new look. She’s past the body insecurities and has found her own identity again, which she felt she’d lost after being in bad relationships previously.”
Fourteen years ago, Lauren was thrust into the spotlight alongside her then-on/off boyfriend and later fiancé Mark Wright, when they joined the original line-up of TOWIE. Their relationship – which in total spanned 12 years – ended for good in 2012, after fans watched their tumultuous journey play out across the early series of the ITVBe show.
“It was a genuine relationship – there was so much that happened off-camera. It wasn’t all bad, but obviously we were making a TV show,” Lauren previously told Closer.
Most recently, Lauren was in another on/off relationship with Charles Drury, the father of her two-year-old daughter Larose. They started dating in 2020, but went their separate ways permanently in early 2022, months before Lauren tragically lost their second daughter Lorena.
On the day of the funeral – which came a month after Lauren’s ex Jake McLean died in a car crash – the reality star was allegedly assaulted by Charles, but she dropped the charges in February.
And as she prepares to return to TOWIE full-time for the first time since 2012, we’re told that it’s been a bittersweet experience for Lauren.
The source says, “She’s done a lot of growing up since she was on TOWIE. A lot of old memories came flooding back as she returned to set, but she confided it did feel like being back home too. She’s told pals that mentally she’s come a long way – she isn’t that girl next door character anymore, and she won’t be walked all over. Her main focus is being the best mum to Larose.
“But she admits to being a hopeless romantic – so of course there’s a part of her that also wants her dream man to swoop in and carry her off the TOWIE set!”