As series 30 of TOWIE has now come to an end we thought it couldn't get any more dramatic than it already had (and spoiler alert: it was HELLA dramatic), but it turns out we were wrong.
One of the biggest storylines of the series was the fallout from Dani Imbert's split from Liam 'Gatsby' Blackwell as they came face-to-face for the first time in months. Although they agreed to remain civil, the exes clashed when a shady video of Gatsby and his pals Courtney Green and Chloe Meadows indirecting Dani while singing Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself surfaced on social media.
Then Gatsby admitted he was interested in getting to know show newcomer Hannah Voyan and they awkwardly bumped into Dani while taking a romantic stroll around Southend.
See, told you it was dramatic. But it turns out even more happened off-screen as Dani has revealed she was accused of cheating on Gatsby in scenes that were left on the cutting room floor.
"There were two [rumours]. One, we broke up when we had never even broken up. Second, it never got aired, but one of the cast members had accused me of cheating on Liam," Dani explained in a new interview.
She told the Daily Star, "It never got aired. Our executives at the time looked into it, but there were no facts. They didn’t even have a boy's name or anything, they had just said it there and then to win an argument.
"I was in a scene, having an argument, then they said: ‘You cheated on Liam!’ Obviously, all the bosses of TOWIE got excited that they have a whole new storyline, but once they looked into it and spoke to the person that said it, they didn’t even have a name of anyone I’d apparently cheated on him with.”
Although Dani didn't reveal which of her co-stars made the accusation, she added, "The girl that said it ended up admitting that she said it on the spot, so they dropped the storyline. I was in a relationship and it’s the easiest thing to say to break people up.
"The scene got completely cut, they never followed the storyline. It never got brought up again."
Gatsby revealed he’s dating someone new since the series came to an end – although he’s kept her identity under wraps – and Dani has admitted she wasn’t surprised to find out the news.
Chatting exclusively to Closer Online, she said, “He moves on very, very quick. I’m not surprised. He’s gone from girl to girl to girl really, so I kind of saw it coming.
“But I’m glad that he found someone and I’m glad that he’s happy and he can move on now. It’s a positive thing really, it makes it easier for me to move on.
“He’s happy now, that means I can be happy now. We can just get on with our own lives knowing there’s no hard feelings.”
As for her own love life, Dani told us that she’s “open to dating”.
She said, “I am very much like a single girl, like I do love being single. So, I think I want to enjoy myself a little bit more with all my friends, going out, going on holidays and stuff.
“But I am open to it, so if the person come along that I felt like I had a connection with or something like that I would definitely be open to dating. I've just not found anyone yet that interests me enough.”
During a recent episode of TOWIE, Gatsby made an effort to put his relationship with Dani behind him for good as he binned Hudson - the cuddly toy that the former couple once shared - after learning that Dani had shared a drunken snog with "boy best friend" Roman Hackett three weeks after they split.
Responding to Gatsby's savage move on Instagram, Dani wrote, "Nooooooooo," alongside crying and heartbroken emojis and added, "My baby Hudson 🥹".
During their recent row on the show, Dani revealed the real reason behind her split from Gatsby as she claimed he "treated her like sh-t" during their relationship before jetting off to LA, where his mum Nikki lives.
This all comes after Dani spoke exclusively to Closer at the TOWIE series 30 launch, teasing that drama was on the horizon this series.
“We’ve had plenty of rows this series but it’s just got to the point where now we don’t even look in the same direction. We generally just walk past each other and don’t acknowledge each other and that’s the way I want it to stay to be honest.
“I don’t want to argue anymore, but I certainly don’t want to be friends either," she admitted.
TOWIE viewers saw a new side to Dani in series 30 and she admitted, "I’m single so [this series] is a complete different change for me. It’s a complete different experience.
“I went from being quiet and laidback, watching everyone else to now just being free, opinionated and myself. I’m not being held back anymore.”
Her BFF Roman then joked, “She was boring."
Dani went on to explain, “Sometimes you get in a relationship and it changes you and I feel like I was a complete different person in that relationship and now I feel ten times better.”
And it appears that her friends are not a fan of Dani's ex either because while Roman said, "Nah I don’t like him at all", Ella commented, "He’s in the burn book" and then newbie Junaid Ahmed added, "Gatsby, he’s just irrelevant ain’t he?".
Gatsby and Dani's split first came to light at the start of 2022 when she told fans that they're definitely not friends.
In an Instagram Q&A, Dani was asked, "How are you and Liam r u still friends now you're not together and r u both gonna be ok on new series."
She replied, "We're not friends no, but there's no bad blood."
Viewers of the ITVBe show will remember that things weren’t so perfect between Dani and Gatsby during the last series. Dani felt forced to choose between Roman and her relationship when it emerged she had kissed her pal before she and Gatsby got together.
Despite the drama, the pair ended the series on a high, with Dani agreeing to fly over to America to spend New Year with Gatsby’s family.
However, if social media is anything to go by, Dani never flew out, probably because of the tightening of coronavirus restrictions, but it was then that fans started to question whether they had decided to go their separate ways.
Dani then seemed to speak about the breakdown of the sometimes fraught relationship, posting about living her 'best single life' on Instagram.
Dani's friend and co-star Ella Rae Wise has also spoken out about the pair in the past, saying she was shocked by the split, telling The Sun, "She’s my best friend, I wasn’t expecting it, Dani is the sort of girl that wouldn’t go and air anyone’s business.
"At the end of the day she’s sort of got to think about Liam not just herself. So when it all did come out, we were all a little bit shocked."
Ella added that despite Dani insisting she's okay on social media, the split has hit the couple hard, "She’s [Dani] okay but at the same time Instagram can tell a thousand stories and a thousand lies – so you sort of can’t tell how someone is feeling through social media."
She then told the publication that things will definitely be "awkward" when they start filming again.
The last time Dani posted Gatsby on her Instagram feed was 17 December, when she posted a snap of them enjoying a day out at Winter Wonderland with the caption, "Missing you."
In February, Dani failed to post any Valentine's Day content, instead choosing to share a round up of her friends instead.
In recent months, Dani has also been sharing quotes about “being young” and “wanting to travel” and has been spending a lot of time out on the town with fellow TOWIE stars Yazmin Oukhellou and Ella Wise.
She also shared a snap of a screenshot of a conversation with her friend about her Aries star sign and their specific traits, including that they "fall in and out of love quickly".
Early in December, Dani and Liam denied that they had split following reports that they were "no longer speaking" after a "blazing row".
A show insider told Closer, "They have not and never did break up."
Early on in their relationship, the pair were criticised for not being "official" after they had both admitted that they loved each other and spent almost every day together.
“Wait how are they in love but not official, I’m confused,” said one fan when Gatsby said they weren't girlfriend and boyfriend last year.
Another added, “I don’t understand this 'we aren’t official'.”
CHECK OUT: 11 jaw-dropping TOWIE couples you forgot about
11 TOWIE couples you completely forgot about - slider
1 of 11Mark Wright and Sam Faiers
Mark and Sam's on/off relationship goes all the way back to when she was 16 and they met on MySpace (awww, those were the days). They briefly dated during their time on TOWIE but were never able to give things a proper go before he quit the show in 2011.
2 of 11Kirk Norcross and Amy Childs
Kirk and Amy's flirtationship was one of the main storylines during the first season of TOWIE and they eventually briefly dated before splitting in 2011. In a 2013 appearance on This Morning, Kirk admitted, "I will still love Amy until the day I die - she is literally like the girl version of me. When it didn't work out, it broke my heart really... and it wasn't her fault, it was both of our fault."
3 of 11Gemma Collins and Charlie King
Gemma and Charlie briefly dated in 2012 but split after she grew concerned about his friendship with Bobby Norris. Two years later, Charlie came out as gay during an appearance on This Morning. He's still friends with Gemma and even admitted in 2017 that he would consider being the GC's sperm donor if she asked. What a turn of events that would be.
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4 of 11Lauren Goodger and Tom Pearce
Remember the days when Joey Essex's BFF Tom Pearce romanced basically every woman within a 10 mile radius of Brentwood? Lauren Goodger became one his many conquests following her split from Mark Wright but they hit the rocks when she caught wind of him bragging about their rendezvous.
5 of 11Mario Falcone and Chloe Sims
It's fair to say Chloe Sims has been unlucky in love over the years but things looked up for her when she began dating close pal Mario. Things moved quick for the pair and she even admitted she loved him - causing friction with BFF Lauren Pope who'd previously dated Mario - but he wasn't ready to settle down and called things off.
6 of 11Harry Derbidge and Bobby Norris
After three years away from the TOWIE scene, OG cast member Harry Derbidge returned as Bobby Norris' boyfriend (in some very skimpy swimwear, nonetheless) during the cast's annual jaunt to Marbs. Their relationship ended in tears though when Harry confessed to sleeping with his ex while on holiday in Tenerife.
7 of 11Dan Osborne and Lucy Mecklenburgh
They've now found love with soap star other halves Jacqueline Jossa and Ryan Thomas but before that, Dan Osborne and Lucy Mecklenburgh were an item. They began dating in 2013 but called it quits amid claims he knew about his ex Megan Tomlin being pregnant before getting with Lucy.
8 of 11Charlie Sims and Ferne McCann
Ferne McCann's on/off relationship with Chloe Sims' brother Charlie provided LOTS of dramz on TOWIE over the years, with rumours she cheated on him cropping up more than once. Eventually Charlie publicly quit the show AND dumped Ferne at the same time in a series of tweets in 2014. Awks...
9 of 11Dan Edgar and Kate Wright
Before she wed footballer Rio and became Mrs Ferdinand, Kate Wright joined TOWIE as the ex of Dan Edgar, who reportedly dumped her to star in the show. She took him back after his romances with Lauren Pope and Jess Wright but it wasn't to be and they eventually split for good.
10 of 11Shelby Tribble and Tom McDonnell
Tom McDonnell joined TOWIE alongside a whole host of newbies including Harry Lee and Chloe Brockett in 2019 and soon caught the eye of Shelby Tribble following her split from Sam Mucklow. Sam soon came back on the scene though and Shelby dumped Tom to reunite with her ex. Sam and Shelby later quit the show together and are now expecting their first child.
11 of 11James Argent and Jasmin Walia
In between his long-running relationships with Lydia Bright and Gemma Collins, James Argent was set up on a blind date with Jasmin Walia and they appeared to hit it off. Things seemed to move too quickly for his liking though, causing him to run from her house after being introduced to her parents. Oh, Arg...