Love Island fans were left emotional when Joey Essex broke down in tears following his emotional reunion with sister Frankie and Nanny Linda on Sunday.
The TOWIE star, 33, couldn’t contain his emotion when being told how ‘proud’ his later mother would have been.
Joey’s mother, Tina, died by suicide when he was just 10 years old.
The During the latest episode Islanders were all visited by family and friends ahead of next weeks final.
And while his sister and nanny beamed with pride Joey became emotional as Frankie said: ‘Mummy would be so proud’.
Love Island fans were left emotional when Joey Essex, 33, broke down in tears following his emotional reunion with sister Frankie and Nanny Linda on Sunday
The TOWIE star couldn’t contain his emotion when being told how ‘proud’ his later mother would have been
Joey’s mother, Tina (pictured with Joey) died by suicide when he was just 10 years old
Frankie says: ‘Honestly Joe, you’re doing so well, mummy would be so proud of you’.
Taking to X fans said: ‘Why am I crying at Joey Essex and his nan?’: ‘Joey’s nan bless her’: ‘Joey shed some tears for the second time this season, breaking boundaries for men all over the world’: ‘My mum also died young and i’m not excusing some of Joey’s behaviour, but it really is awful and you wouldn’t wish it to happen to your worst enemy. Not surprised how much he idolises his nan’.
Joey previously revealed how his mother dying has impacted his relationships with women.
The reality TV veteran previously revealed how his mother dying has impacted his relationships with women.
He touched upon the reasons he believes he has struggled to remain in a relationship in his recent BBC documentary Joey Essex: Grief and Me.
In the emotional programme, he discusses with a therapist that he struggles to believe someone could love him after his mother, Tina, who ‘loved me more than any girl will love me’ left him.
Joey explained that he hoped by opening up and coming to terms with his grief he may be able to move forward, find someone and start a family.
‘I want to find true happiness, I want to find true love. I’ve been in good relationships and I seem to push that away,’ he said.
The During the latest episode Islanders were all visited by family and friends ahead of next weeks final
And while his sister and nanny beamed with pride Joey became emotional as Frankie said: ‘Mummy would be so proud’
Fans rushed to social to social media
‘I think my life has been too painful for that person to be with because I don’t want to put them through what I’ve been through and what I’m going through so I seem to push good relationships away.
‘My mum, she loved me but she left me. I just don’t believe it. I think to myself if she loved me that much why would she leave me. I think I’ll always ask myself why.’
Instead Joey admitted he entered into several relationships knowing they would never progress or pushing people away in order to protect himself.
Joey has had several romances over the years with fellow TOWIE star Sam Faiers, model Amy Willerton who he met on I’m a Celebrity, and The Hills star Stephanie Pratt.
‘I don’t trust a lot of people, I just don’t,’ he said. ‘The whole thought of being left alone scares the life out of me because I went through it as a kid and it was just awful.
‘Imagine if I loved someone, had kids with them and I really did love that person and then she left me I wouldn’t know what to do.’
But after turning 30 he stepped back and looked at his life and decided he wanted to ‘stop wasting my own time’ – instead acknowledging he needs to be happy in himself to be able to find a healthy relationship.
Speaking with his cousin Chloe Sims, 41, Joey admitted he struggles to give his heart out to women.
Joey previously revealed how his mother dying has impacted his relationships with women
Joey was just 10 when his mother Tina, died by suicide, and Joey admitted in a new documentary that he has never properly dealt with his grief (pictured together)
In an emotional scene, Joey opened up to his cousin Chloe Sims, 41, about his struggles to give his heart out to women and how he knows he needs to change (pictured together)
‘That’s not a good way to think because I’m already thinking we’re gonna break up before we’re even together, I’m pushing it away.
‘Now I’ve gone from this party boy life genuinely now I’m like woah I’ve had this massive kick back, like I actually want a family. How do I make myself happy without that?’
The reality star also spoke about the emotions he had kept buried about his mother, often in the past avoiding speaking openly about her.
‘I just don’t think I’ll ever be able to let it go. I don’t want to let go. I don’t give a s*** about all this life we live and all that. I’d choose her over anything.
‘A lot of people say with this subject ‘but you don’t know how she felt’ and all this and all that but it’s like she got rid of her pain but now look at me.
‘Everything I’ve achieved in life, it’s like who have I got to prove it to? No one. I would throw everything away to spend one hour with her.’
After turning 30, Joey (pictured) stepped back and looked at his life and decided he wanted to ‘stop wasting my own time’ and find happiness in himself so he can find love
While Joey became a household name when he became a regular feature on ITV’s TOWIE (pictured in 2012), he revealed he was still suffering with anxiety and struggle to deal with his grief
Joey revealed early on in the documentary that he often struggles with feeling lonely in his large Essex home which, when he purchased it eight years ago, he expected he would be sharing with someone by now.
‘People just see me as this little Essex boy who is just like living the dream- made all the money in the world and had an easy life, silver spoon in my mouth, but no one really knows what’s going on inside my head,’ he said.
While he shot to popularity on The Only Way is Essex, after leaving his job at Billingsate Fish Market, Joey admitted he often felt overwhelmed by his then new-found fame all the while still dealing with his grief ten years on – often getting panic attacks.
Touching upon the public perception of him, Joey acknowledged that people only know one side of him.
‘The past seven years no ones really seen me. People don’t really know who I am so sometimes it confuses me because I don’t really know who I am either.’
Joey admitted he entered into several relationships knowing they would never progress or pushing people away in order to protect himself (pictured with ex Sam Faiers)
Joey has had several romances over the years with fellow TOWIE star Sam Faiers, model Amy Willerton who he met on I’m a Celebrity, and The Hills star Stephanie Pratt
During the documentary Joey also came to the realisation he has been dealing with panic attacks and anxiety from a young age.
Recalling his experiences as a teenager, he told his therapist, Dr Stephen Blumenthal, that he used to get extremely hot and run around his house in a panic.
His father, Don, later revealed that he would run Joey a cold bath and once he cooled him down he was ‘back to normal again’ but had hoped his son had forgotten the experience as they had never discussed it before.
Joey’s anxiety as a child would also come to the surface in his sleep, when he would often wake up screaming and shouting ‘tell Mummy I love her’ repeatedly.
He admitted his mother’s death left him ‘torn to pieces’ and he often felt depressed, on several occasions taking himself to hospital convinced there was something wrong with him.
Touching on the moment he was told his mother had died, he said he can remember it ‘like it was yesterday’ because it is ‘a thought that will never go’.
Joey explained that he would often get hot and run around his house in a panic and in a conversation his father, Don, (pictured together) revealed that he would run his son a cold bath and once he cooled him down he was ‘back to normal again’
‘Just hearing the words mummy’s gone was enough, he said. ‘I sort of just said to myself it isn’t true, like she’s coming back and I sort of believed that.’
His therapy journey was not always easy, including one instance where he considered giving up on his sessions as he struggled to let Dr Blumenthal in.
In an emotional scene, he said: ‘I’ve never took it this serious so I’m finding it difficult. I don’t trust you and I’m getting frustrated I don’t know, I can’t even explain it, its f****** hard man. I just feel trapped. Just sometimes that’s how I feel.’
Wrapping up the final scenes from the emotional programme, Joey admitted he’s not certain what exactly people get out of therapy but felt he had noticed a difference in himself.
‘I know for a fact I will never get over the trauma. I will live with that and that’s the way it is but I’ve started to talk about it, I’ve opened up about it, I can look at pictures I can finally do that which is huge.
‘I’m just proud and I’m glad that I faced it. I can live with it now and just keep moving. I can only take positives out of everything I’ve been through.’
LOVE ISLAND 2024: MEET THE CONTESTANTS
NAME: Mimii Ngulube
AGE: 24
FROM: Portsmouth
OCCUPATION: Mental Health Nurse
WHY LOVE ISLAND? The pool in Portsmouth is not giving. I’ve tried dating and speaking to people on social media and it just hasn’t been successful. Applying was a spontaneous thing, I didn’t expect to get here!
WHAT WILL YOU BRING TO THE VILLA? My girls are my rocks and I’m theirs, so I’ll be a good friend as well as going in there to find a man. I like dressing up, so I’ll bring style, and I’d like to think I’m quite funny so I’ll make people laugh. Bringing honesty as well – I’m good at picking up on people’s personality traits and side-eyeing those who might be liars.
NAME: Sean Stone
AGE: 24
FROM: Hertford
OCCUPATION: Sweets Salesman
WHY LOVE ISLAND? I’ve always been one for relationships, and when you have found someone you want to be with it’s the best feeling. Now is the perfect time, the one thing that is missing is my soulmate.
HOW WOULD FRIENDS/FAMILY DESCRIBE YOU? Very loving, caring and thoughtful. I’m the kind of guy that, if you broke down on the motorway and needed your tyre changed, I’d be there at any time of night.
NAME: Ayo Odukoya
AGE: 25
FROM: Canning Town
OCCUPATION: Model
WHAT WILL YOU BRING TO THE VILLA? I think I’d bring excitement and joy. I think people would have someone to come to and talk to and feel comfortable being around or to have a laugh with. I think I’m somebody everyone would take to.
WHY SHOULD SOMEBODY DATE YOU? I feel like the way I carry myself is very respectful and I think people take to that and once you show who you are to somebody you get it back tenfold. The way I am gives off a good enough energy for people to feel comfortable around me.
NAME: Nicole Samuel
AGE: 24
FROM: Aberdare, Wales
OCCUPATION: Accounts Manager
WHY ARE YOU SINGLE? I’ve been enjoying single life and the attention of different boys, it’s fun. I’ve enjoyed being able to go on holiday with the girls and not having to worry about someone back home. All the girls are there texting in their room and I’m out till 4 in the morning living my best life.
WHAT IS SOMETHING NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT YOU? I became a world champion dancer in 2011, not many people know that. I was a professional street dancer.
NAME: Ciaran Davies
AGE: 21
FROM: Pencoed, South Wales
OCCUPATION: Surveyor
WHAT’S YOUR TYPE ON PAPER? Obviously looks but humour is a big thing for me, I’m a bit of a wind up so I want a girl who can give it back. Loyalty is another one for me: I think that’s the most important thing to look for in a relationship.
WHAT IS SOMETHING NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT YOU? When I was in Malia on a boys holiday I pretended to be Liam Reardon from series 7 to get into a club because they wouldn’t let us in. It worked and we ended up getting a private booth and free drinks all night.
NAME: Joey Essex
AGE: 33
FROM: Chigwell, Essex
OCCUPATION: Reality star
CLAIM TO FAME? The Only Way Is Essex
FAMOUS EXES: Joey was in a relationship with fellow TOWIE star Sam Faiers from 2011 to 2014 with the pair getting engaged before they split. He has also been spotted locking lips with former Love Island stars Ellie Brown and Maura Higgins. He also dated his Dancing On Ice pro partner Vanessa Bauer.
NAME: Grace Jackson
AGE: 25
FROM: Manchester
OCCUPATION: Model and social media marketing coordinator
WHY ARE YOU SINGLE? No guys have good communication and it’s painful. I like someone who doesn’t take themselves and life too seriously. My lifestyle can put guys off a little bit, I like to go out and go abroad a lot. They can’t keep up with my lifestyle. It’s the life that I want, and it helps with my business.
NAME: Matilda Draper
AGE: 24
FROM: Beckenham
OCCUPATION: Recruitmant Consultant
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL BRING? I want to bring sunshine to the Villa. I’m lighthearted and don’t take myself too seriously. If things get too serious in the Villa I’m going to throw in a little joke or a ‘would you rather’.
NAME: Jessy Potts
AGE: 25
FROM: Leicester
OCCUPATION: Brand Partnerships Associate
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WILL BRING TO THE VILLA? I’m fun, I like to get involved, so I’d like to think I will get stuck in as soon as I arrive. I also have a very sarcastic sense of humour, so I’ll make everyone laugh, but I’m a Sagittarius, so I also have a fiery side and I’m not afraid to say what I think or stand my ground. I’m not very good at taking ‘no’ for an answer.
Jessica Spencer
NAME: Jessica Spencer
AGE: 25
FROM: London
OCCUPATION: Fashion Stylist
WHO DO YOU HAVE YOUR EYE ON IN THE VILLA? I have my eyes on Ayo, despite his connection with Mimii. I fancy Ayo so much. Wil also seems like a catch and someone I want to explore a connection with.
WHAT KIND OF ISLANDER ARE YOU GOING TO BE? I’m funny, flirty, sassy and ready to find love
Reuben Collins
NAME: Reuben Collins
AGE: 23
FROM: Surrey
OCCUPATION: Account Assistant
WHO DO YOU HAVE YOUR EYE ON IN THE VILLA? Mimii, Uma and Grace. Obviously they’re all stunning but it’s mainly how they hold themselves and how they are as people.
WHAT KIND OF ISLANDER ARE YOU GOING TO BE? Sometimes I can be a bit too honest. At the end of the day I’ll go for who I want and if I have to step on toes I will. I don’t mind making a bit of a fool of myself.
Josh Sunday Oyinsan
NAME: Josh Sunday Oyinsan
AGE: 29
FROM: London
OCCUPATION: Semi-pro footballer
WHO DO YOU HAVE YOUR EYE ON IN THE VILLA? All of them!! Mimii, Uma, Grace and Jess S. All of the girls there are beautiful.
WHAT KIND OF ISLANDER ARE YOU GOING TO BE? I am not afraid to speak my mind! I’m not afraid of treading on any toes…
