Tom Zanetti and Sophie Hermann seemingly broke multiple lockdown rules in order to spend a romantic Valentine’s Day together after growing close on Celebs Go Dating
The Made in Chelsea heiress – nicknamed The Duchess in the Celebs Go Dating mansion by the other celebs – surprised everyone when she only had eyes for superstar DJ Tom, despite dating agents Anna Williamson and Paul Carrick-Brunson setting her up on a number of dates with civilians.
And while we’re currently watching things hot up between them on screen, the new couple have proved they’re still very much an item with Tom uploading their cute Valentine’s dinner – complete with a waiter to serve them food – to Instagram.
CHECK OUT: Forbidden CGD romances
Forbidden CGD couples
1 of 12Stephanie Pratt and Joey Essex in series 1
When the show was just a little bitty baby in 2016, Stephanie and Joey were its first ever forbidden celeb couple. Then dating expert Nadia Essex certainly made her feelings known as later Steph told us, "I try to block out bad memories, but she didn't accept that Joey and I were dating. She was evil to me when I was dating Joey, on and off camera."She was flirting with Joey."
2 of 12Eden Blackman and Chanel Sadie Paul in series 2
So this was QUITE the scandal at the time. Then dating coach Eden ended up hooking up with one of the civilian daters, Chanel, a Kim Kardashian lookalike who was brought in to date IRL Kim's best mate Jonathan Cheban (awks). It all crumbled though when Chanel found out he'd been two timing her and shared the messages online.
3 of 12Charlotte Dawson and Frankie Cocozza in series 3
She might be settled down with a baby on the way now, but back in 2017 Charlotte looked to the dating agents to find her love with a civilian. Instead, she found a "genuine connection" with disgraced X Factor star Frankie, before accusing him of using her for air time. The pair no longer speak.
4 of 12Tallia Storm and Seb Morris on series 4
Ok, ok, so not STRICTLY a forbidden romance, but Tallia and Seb were the OG exes on the show (to be extremely outshone by Pete Wicks and Megan McKenna two series later) and it was SO CLEAR when the agents had them in a room together that there was still LOADS of chemistry between them.
5 of 12Olivia Attwood and Sam Craske in series 5
Love Island's Olivia certainly had options on the show, reportedly hooking up with Ibiza Weekender's Callum Izzard,too. But it was Diversity Dancer and Jesy Nelson's ex Sam who she attended the final with, and fans were overjoyed at the union.
6 of 12Sam Thompson and Pete Wicks in series 6
Easily the most enduring love affair to have come from the show, Pete and Sam each met their soulmates in each other in series six and are still the best of friends today (even if their relationship does revolve around Pete ripping into Sam).
7 of 12Jack Fincham and Lauren Goodger in series 7
These two Essex natives seem like the perfect match on paper, which is why we were gutted not to see more of their relationship play out. TOWIE's Lauren dropped some major hints she'd been getting intimate with the Love Island winner, but later left the agency early to focus on herself.
8 of 12Megan Barton Hanson and Demi Sims in series 7
After breaking up with her Love Island boyfriend Wes Nelson, Megan admitted she was bi-sexualand on CGD dated both guys and girls. She hit it off with TOWIE's Demi and the two ended the series trying to make a go of it, but it wasn't to last.
9 of 12Josh Ritchie and Olivia Bentley on series 8
Made in Chelsea's poshest export Liv joined the agency looking for a bit of rough and found it in newly single Josh Ritchie, who'd just split from Charlotte Crosby. The pair were photographed snogging at a party and they both admitted to fancying each other.
10 of 12James Lock and Alison Hammond on series 8
Liv was also briefly linked to TOWIE's James but we much preferred the rumours about a romance with daytime telly hun Alison."I fell in love with James Lock on the show. This Greek God," she said at the time. "He did say one thing to me, he actually said, 'Alison you're my perfect girlfriend, personality-wise'."I was absolutely devastated. So I went to the gym and worked out. So personality-wise I'm his perfect girl!"
11 of 12Pete Wicks and Shaughna Phillips in series 9
The celebs might have to maintain a safe distance for 2020's virtual series, but that didn't stop Pete and Love Island's Shaughna hitting it off. She denied any romance but admitted, "Anna and Paul have actually said to me that they think me and Pete are alike in the sense that we kind of go along with things to be nice."That could be a perfect chemistry… He's probably not my type on paper, but he's lovely."
12 of 12Tom Zanetti and Sophie Hermann
Despite Celebs Go Dating the Mansion being rife with rumours of celeb pairings, it was superstar DJ Tom Zanetti and Made in Chelsea heiress Sophie Hermann who made a go of things. Viewers watched the pair flirt their way through the series before finally being set up on a date by Pau and Anna, with Anna telling Closer exclusively that "if a celeb starts to gravitate toward another celebrity, it is something we explore but we also try and keep them on the path of dating regular folk as well."
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And though they were isolating together for the duration of filming in “probably the biggest mansion in the UK”with the rest of the CGD cast and crew, the 220 miles between them in the real world meant it’s likely they broke lockdown rules to be together for their date.
Although they could have created a support bubble?
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In one of the now deleted videos, Sophie can be seen sipping wine as she hides behind her mane of hair, and in another the two of them appear to be in bed as Soph attempts to cover his mouth with her hand, with Tom gushing, "I've got the crème de la crème, the cream of the crop."
Despite it being a steadfast rule in the past that celebs in the agency weren’t allowed to date other celebs on the books, pretty much every series has produced a celeb couple and Anna exclusively told Closer ahead of the launch of the current season that they’d relaxed their attitudes.
“It’s not something we endorse, but obviously every series we do there does tend to be wandering eyes amongst the celebrities,” she said. “They do become very very close, it is like a family, and though it’s not something we encourage, it is real, and Paul and I are genuinely there to see who potentially has a connection with someone else.
“So if a celeb starts to gravitate toward another celebrity, it is something we explore but we also try and keep them on the path of dating regular folk as well.”
Closer Online have contacted Sophie and Tom's reps for comment.