THE Only Way Is Essex star Saffron Lempriere has revealed the truth behind her bitter feud with former best friend Gemma Collins.
The reality TV favourite, who joined the cast of the ITV Be show back in 2018, admitted their huge fall-out began over a man.
Saffron revealed what ended their friendship
She and Gemma used to be best friends before their feud
Saffron, 30, who previously appeared alongside Gemma, 42, on her show Diva Espana, fell out with her former best pal two years ago.
The Towie favourite had been friends with her former co-star for eight years before it all went sour, with the pals no longer speaking.
But now, Saffron has revealed for the first time that their major fall out wasn’t about differing views on animals, as fans had thought.
It all began when Saffron went on a date with one of Gemma’s exes.
She exclusively revealed: “My ex, I was with him for two years. I met him in Spain and it was a bit of a whirlwind.
“But before I knew her, when Gemma was 21, she went on three dates with him, twelve years before. I didn’t know!
“I told her, ‘I’ve started seeing someone’. I think maybe she always had a bit of a thing for him. She was like: ‘Nah, I am not having it’.”
“We’ve never spoken since,” Saffron added, revealing there was only “one phone call” four months after the initial fall out, but that Gemma has “never reached out” since then.
“We were like sisters. We were so, so close. But it has been three years now since we spoke. It really hurt me at the time,” she said.
On whether she hoped to reunite with her former pal, Saffron concluded: “I am not good at holding grudges, so it is always in the back of my mind.”
Back in 2021, Saffron revealed that their eight years of friendship was “enough” as she opened up about their fall out.
She threw shade at the self-confessed diva during an assumptions round with her followers on Instagram.
One wrote: “You’ve always been friends with Gemma Collins,” to which the blonde beauty replied: “Eight years was enough”.
While another fan assumed they weren’t friends anymore, Saffron confirmed: “True, I’ve been asked about this 30 times. No big deal.”
But Saffron didn’t stop there with spilling the tea as she teased that Gemma was the reason behind their big fall out.
One follower sent her the assumption: “Gemma was the cause of your friendship ending? She seems to lose friends a lot.”
The reality star used a selfie of herself with a sticker that spelt out “facts” on her forehead to do the talking for that one.
Some thought that the reason they fell out was because the clashed over their view on animals, considering Gemma mentioned it on one of the episodes from her TV show.
“U were the 1 GC was talking bout on her series that she fell out over a view on animals,” the fan assumed.
Saffron put the rumours to bed and simply replied: “No idea what this is about… probs more bs***.”
The pair had been best pals for eight years
