11 of the most iconic TOWIE quotes: from ‘Shut up’ to Lydia Bright’s ‘f–king fringe’

'Snip, snip'

megan mckenna

by Elena Angelides |
Updated on

For twelve years, TOWIE has delivered vajazzles, prosecco and drama_._

From iconic huns Amy Childs and Gemma Collins, to OG boys Mark Wright and Joey Essex the catalogue of cast members have provided some iconic moments.

So, grab your pornstar martini, take a seat on your grey crushed-velvet sofa, as we take you down memory lane (well, Brentwood high street) for the best TOWIE quotes ever_._

Gemma Collins answering the phone during her TOWIE debut

OK guys. This is of high-importance and we intend to start this agenda strong. The one and only Gemma Collins first burst onto our screens selling a car to Kirk Norcross and developing a bit of a crush on his dad Mick. Remember when she baked him that infamous apple pie that she left on his doorstep?

Anyway, when Kirk called Gemma and invited her to his circus themed birthday party, Gemma was filmed slowly cruising in her silver convertible and she answered the phone saying, “Gemma Collins, New York, Paris, Milan and Rome.” Iconic.

On the call, she told Kirk she’s always been into Tarot reading, "My mum gave me the gift, it came out of her noonie and went into my blood."

Oh Gemma. No wonder she went back to work for just one week as a carsales girl and was later invited back as a TOWIE regular. Thank you ITV - for over a decade of the GC.

Bobby Norris describing his party

Making this list without a Bobby Norris one-liner would be as hard as having a row in Essex without getting a drink thrown in your face. Impossible to dodge.

One thing Bobby has never lacked is sass. From telling the GC, “If I went into a thesaurus and looked up aggressive, there’d be a picture of Gemma Collins,” to snappily saying, “Chemistry’s like chlamydia. You either got it, or you ain’t.”

But our all-time favourite comes when Bobby threw a glitzy party with Charlie King, and while picking up diamantes in the craft shop, he said, "This ain’t the teddy’s bears picnic, we ain’t goldilocks. This is like Alan Sugar sh*t. We’re not doing a tuck shop for 30 quid.”

When Kirk Norcross called Maria Fowler an extra

Let's set the scene, Lauren Pope is heartbroken after Kirk suddenly breaks up with her with no real explanation. She's having dinner with her bestie and flatmate Maria Fowler but then Kirk walks in… on a date... with Lucy Mecklenburgh.

When Maria tries to stick up for Lauren during the confrontation – and Kirk awkwardly calls off the date with Lucy - things escalate with Maria calling him a “mug” and Kirk saying, "Oi shut up you, you’re just a f**king extra!”

Gemma Collins and Lydia Bright sharing more than just a paella

When the news hits Essex that James ‘Arg’ Argent had slept with Gemma and Lydia on the same day – within hours of each other – in Marbella, Lydia realised they had split a Spanish dish the night after.

After discovering what Arg had been up to, a shocked Lydia said, “I had a plate of paella with Gemma the next day, we shared Arg the night before and a paella the next day.”

We're sure Tapas is intended to be shared, but this isn’t what anyone has in mind.

Gatsby ‘cuts’ his friendship with Chloe Meadows and Courtney Green

When the conflict between Gatsby (real name Liam Blackwell) and Dani Imbert came to a head with Chloe Meadows and Courtney Green, Gatsby decided to distance himself from the duo.

It seemed like a mature decision, until you hear the way he dropped it... In a Mean Girls level attempt at sass, Gatsby told the girls (with hand gestures), “You’re cut, snip snip”. Then he walked away.

Fast forward to 2022 and Chloe and Courtney have decided to make amends with Gatsby. The duo even made a rap to cheer him up and included the lyrics, “But please, no more snip snip.”

Chloe Sims tells Elliott Wright to go away

Chloe Sims and Elliott Wright’s relationship started off promising. They were super loved-up from the get-go, and even introduced their kids to each other.

But at some point, it seemed Chloe got the irreversible ick and no matter how hard she tried, it couldn’t be reversed.

In a club, Elliot approached her with fresh allegations that she got with someone when they were still together. This came shortly after Chloe had been approached by Elliott’s sister Leah and she’d had enough.

Queue an explosive screaming match with Chloe waving her hand in his face and saying, "I don’t want you in my space. Go away! Go away! Go away! You’re approaching me, your sister’s approaching me. I don’t want to talk to you. Go away! Go! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!”

Meanwhile, Leah Wright and Jess Wright were muttering under their breaths that Chloe isn't classy. Rude.

Joey Essex and the D-reem team

Back in 2011, Joey Essex was actually responsible for the creation of one word: Reem. You could be it, smell it, and look it. There was even a club night where ‘reem girls’ wore black t-shirts, printed with pink font – think Microsoft word – donning be reem, smell reem, look reem.

Carol Wright, Lauren Goodger and THAT Shepherd’s Pie

Following Lauren Goodger and Mark Wright's split, the Wright family were quick to invite Sam Faiers over for a Sunday dinner.

However things got awkward when Carol bumped into Lauren in the supermarket, and if you haven’t watched this awkward exchange in a while, it’s definitely worth a rewatch.

There's lots of awkward chatter and what feels like minute long pauses throughout the conversation. The bizarre exchange ends with Carol serving more than just a traditional English dish by saying, "I’ll save you some, you can have the leftovers."

Megan McKenna vs Chloe Lewis and Lydia Bright

Megan McKenna had a turbulent time on TOWIE, it all began during her first appearance as Pete Wick’s girlfriend when everyone came to blows at a fancy banquet dinner party.

She had a screaming matching with Pete in the middle of the street, she fell out with BFFs Chloe and Courtney but it was actually her beef with Chloe Lewis that's always going viral on TikTok.

Their feud began after rumours surfaced that Megan slept with her then-boyfriend Jake Hall. While Jake apparently admitted to it, Megan continued to deny but her iconic one liner came when Lydia Bright somehow got involved.

Megan, Chloe and Lydia had a showdown in Mallorca but Megan had the last word when she said to both girls, "You crack on with your thing and you and your f--king fringe can f--k off".

Lucy Mecklenburgh and Mario Falcone: war of the mug

Nowadays, the word mug is thrown around all the time, mostly because everyone has watched Love Island, but before that mug was the essence of Essex.

If you cast your mind back to Lucy Mecklenburgh and Mario Falcone - one of TOWIE's great on-and-off again love stories. They even got engaged at one point on the show, remember?

Their relationship consisted of both of them cheating on each other and we reckon you'll probably remember Lucy chucking her red wine on Mario's top.

However it was actually what she said during their Marbella bust-up (the TOWIE lot really do save all their drama for the sun, ey?), that captured Lucy and Mario at the height of it all.

Lucy finished their fight with the iconic line, "You know what I’ve discovered after wasting two years of my life. I’m not the mug, you are!”

Amy Childs and her iconic 'Shut up'

Last and most certainly not least, no one who has ever watched OG TOWIE will ever forget Amy Childs and the way she says 'Shuuuut up'.

Need we say more?

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