He quietly broke up with his girlfriend Stella Turian back in November after a year long romance – after they raised eyebrows with their 16-year age gap.
And James Argent, 36, told the My Dirty Laundry podcast that he really struggled on Valentine’s day because of his single status and had to stay off social media because it got him down so much.
Having tackled his demons, staying sober for two years and losing 15 stone in weight, James said: ‘I’m in a really good place. Everything in my life is perfect, apart from my love life. It would be nice if that would change.
‘I’ll be completely honest, this year I really struggled on Valentine’s Day. I remember, I woke up and thought, I am not going to look at social media.
‘It’s not that I’m heartbroken or upset, but just because I knew it’s not going to make me feel great because I didn’t have a Valentine, I don’t have a girlfriend.
James Argent, 36, reveals he ‘really struggled’ on lonely Valentine’s Day following split from girlfriend Stella, 19, and admits he had to stay off social media because it ‘got to him’, (pictured together in March 2023)
James broke up with Stella, 16 year his junior, in November after a year-long romance and said ‘It’s not that I’m heartbroken or upset, but just because I knew social media was not going to make me feel great because I didn’t have a Valentine, I don’t have a girlfriend.
He told the My Dirty Laundry podcast (pictured), ‘Everyone was out on dates. There’s flowers, there’s balloons, there’s chocolates, there’s date nights or trips or happily married couples – and yeah, it did start to affect me a little bit’
‘But, I couldn’t help it. There was times where I’d just have a little glance and all you would see was couples. Everyone’s madly in love. Everyone’s happy.
‘Everyone’s out on dates. There’s flowers, there’s balloons, there’s chocolates,there’s date nights or trips or happily married couples – and yeah, it did start to affect me a little bit.’
But James has said that rather than wallow in misery, he tried to go out to make himself feel better, but a trip to the shops didnt’ help the situation at all.
He said: ‘I thought, I’m gonna get out the house and a food shop and I went to my local supermarket and what made things a million times worse, every single aisle that I looked at was a Valentine’s Day dine-in meal for two…
‘It was starters, main, dessert and a drink for 20 quid. And I was like, “oh no”, it just absolutely, it just got to me.
‘But I went to bed that night, had a good night’s sleep and then the next day I was fine. I was happy again, I was fine.
‘So it just goes to show you that you can have good days, you can have bad days, you can have days where you’re feeling a certain way.
‘If you get a good night’s sleep, the next day is always a new day and it wasn’t that bad. For some reason, Valentine’s Day this year, I didn’t think it would even bother me, but it wasn’t a great experience.’
James has stayed friends with all three of his ex girlfriends – he and Gemma Collins split in 2019 for good following an on-off romance for years, (pictured in 2017)
Before that, James dated his former TOWIE co-star Lydia Bright – they were childhood sweethearts and dated on and off between 2008-2016 and he now credits her as being one of his best friends (pictured in 2011)
Arg said that after his past mental health issues, he has learned the importance of reaching out to friends and family during tough times.
He said: ‘Everything that I’ve been through, all I’ve learned is you have to kind of just have to talk about it.
‘Even if you feel like you are attention seeking or being silly, it is important for me just to ring my mates or my family, tell them how I’m feeling at the time. So I did.
‘And they drummed it into me that a lot of those couples are probably secretly arguing behind the scenes and are probably not that happy after all.’
Arg said that now he is in a good place when it comes to his recovery and feels like he would really like to find ‘the one.’
He said; ‘I feel like I could potentially be a good husband and a good father. So I think as long as I meet the right person. I’m quite clean and tidy actually and house proud.
‘But I’m terrible with DIY and things like that. I’m not very good with things like that, I’m not much of a handy man.’
Arg said he has stayed in contact with all three of his ex girlfriends. Stella, 19, Lydia Bright, 33 and Gemma Collins, 43 and they all remain good friends.
He and Gemma split in 2019 for good following an on-off romance for years and he dated Lydia from 2008-2016 and credits her as being one of his best friends.
Revealing why he has stayed close to all three ladies, he said: ‘It’s just the way it’s worked out for me.
‘It’s different to a lot of my friends, who, as soon as they go through a break up, they cut ties and never speak to that person again. But with me, it’s just kind of worked out differently.’
Visit @mydirtylaundrypodcast on Instagram for more.
