Sam Thompson has made a cheeky confession about his latest antics with best pal and 'brother' Pete Wicks - but Zara still has his whole heart.
The 31-year-old lives in a gorgeous Chelsea house with his long-term girlfriend, the Love Island star turned documentary maker Zara McDermott. And when the Mirror caught up with him earlier this month, he couldn't have been more smitten.
Speaking with pride about Zara, who he started dating in 2019 - back in his Made In Chelsea days - supportive Sam beamed: "Zara is absolutely smashing at the moment. Her clothing brand Rise has absolutely smashed it. It sold out way quicker than anyone expected. They've got way more orders coming in. It's become a bit of a behemoth, her clothing brand. So I'm incredibly happy that she's smashing that so much.
"Her documentaries are doing so, so well. I can't honestly give too much away, but there's more to come from Zara in the documentary space. She's just growing and growing into a huge broadcast name, and it's just so cool to watch a person you love doing so well."
London-born Sam isn't doing too shabby either. The reigning King of the Jungle is currently here, there and everywhere in TV land, and recently made memorable appearances on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and This Morning.
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Meanwhile, Sam's hit podcast Staying Relevant - which he hosts with best pal Pete Wicks - appears to be going from strength to strength, with tickets for their upcoming tour selling out in a couple of hours.
Friendship with 'brother' Pete
Sam and Pete's podcast has proven to be a hit (PA)Showing a self-deprecating sense of humour, Sam, who is currently fronting Flora's 'Bit Weird' campaign', jibed: "We sold out a 6,000 personal arena, and we don't have a talent! So trying to entertain 6,000 people in Birmingham when you literally sit there and go, 'I don't even know what we're doing' is pretty wild."
The podcast follows Sam and Pete's quest for fame, from 'public appearances gone wrong', to reality shows that 'haunt'. It offers a hilarious insight into life as a celeb - but it's the pair's friendship that proves to be the winning formula.
Sam and his 'brother and best mate' Pete met on the set of Celebs Go Dating, and immediately hit it off. Looking back on some of the adventures they've shared, Sam revealed: "We've just arrived back from Ibiza together. We were doing a job and we recorded our podcast out in Ibiza, and we both went to Ocean Beach, and that was really, really fun."
Outlining some of their antics, Sam - who usually doesn't drink too much - recalls necking a big bottle of vodka during what was his first Ocean Beach experience, and meeting famous Ibiza club owner - and footballer's brother - Wayne Lineker. The best part of the trip, however, turned out to be 'messing around with Pete'.
Sam continued: "It was probably one of the most jokes things we've ever done. But I mean, I remember we went snowbombing in Austria. That was amazing. Learned to snowboard and then went to the festival. It was so cool. Pete didn't want to be seen next to me. But I don't care because I literally followed him around everywhere like a limpet to a rock."
Major turning point on Made in Chelsea
The Hits Radio presenter admits he first joined Made In Chelsea as he 'wanted to get into nightclubs for free and go on a date'. (Flora)As a presenter on Hits Radio, Sam has come a long way from the aspiring reality star who, by his own admission, joined Made in Chelsea because he 'wanted to get into nightclubs for free and go on a date'. He initially assumed he'd get a 'real job' after a couple of years - but soon caught the showbiz bug.
Sam shared: "I realised, actually, I want to entertain people and I want to be in like the broadcast space, but I didn't realise it even existed. So that was quite a big moment for me, halfway through main Chelsea realising, 'Wow, actually, you know, I don't think I'm ever going to get like this like normal job', and that was an exciting and terrifying prospect."
Describing this turning point as a 'big moment' in his life, Sam realised he wanted to put everything into trying to 'entertain people', and felt as though he'd be 'screwed' if he didn't make it. Fortunately, Sam's career went from strength to strength, with his time in the jungle proving to be a particular highlight.
Sam, who beat Tony Bellew and Nigel Farage to win last year's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, explained: "It's the one show that I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember watching TV. I used to sit down and watch the jungle, and watch Ant and Dec with my parents."
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Future plans with Zara
According to Sam, he's 'never been more excited' about his relationship with Zara (DIGITAL/EROTEME.CO.UK)
The celeb couple have had to deal with engagement rumours - but have plenty of other plans for now (DIGITAL/EROTEME.CO.UK)Looking ahead to the future, Sam has had to field plenty of rumours concerning his long-term romance with Zara - but it doesn't seem likely we'll be hearing wedding bells anytime soon. When quizzed by the Mirror, Sam jokily revealed that the pair have big plans to 'build a porch', but engagement rings aren't on the cards for now.
With so many exciting professional plans on the horizon, including potentially starting a business together, Sam reflected: "I've never been more excited about us and our relationship and what we're doing. Also, because we do a lot, when we spend time away together, it means so much as well."
He added: "We go away together once a year. We went on safari last year, it was amazing. When we go away, we just turn our phones off and stop doing whatever we're doing, that's a very special time as well. So I feel like we've got so much packed into this year, that there's no time to be thinking about, 'when are we going to have kids?' It's just not the right time."
ADHD diagnosis
Sam believes ADHD can be harnessed as a superpower under the right circumstances (BELLE PR)Sam has previously spoken candidly about his ADHD and autism, after a diagnosis at the age of 30 helped him gain clarity on the way his brain works. Looking back at how being neurodivergent has shaped his life and career, Sam says that he absolutely views his ADHD as a 'superpower'. Now he tries to inspire others to view their diagnosis through this lens.
Sam told the Mirror: "I was talking to a young guy called Thomas while we were doing something for [the charity] Cash For Kids. He, out of nowhere, asked, 'How do you feel about ADHD and how have you managed it? Because I've just been told I've got it, and I don't know how to feel about it'. I was just like, oh, that makes me sad. I'm sad that you think that because, like, I think you're so special, mate."
He continued: "I can only speak for myself because I'm not other people with neurodiversity. Everyone has different experiences left, right, and centre when it comes to this kind of stuff.
"But from my personal experience, because I am so lucky to do something I actually adore, I attribute any success to having ADHD and hyper-focusing on the things that I absolutely love, and I tried to convey that to Thomas. I was like, 'Mate, I think if you do something you genuinely enjoy, then you can channel that ADHD through into a bit of a superpower. And his little face lit up and it just made my day. I was so happy.
"So that was a really special moment. If you are lucky enough for the right circumstances to arise, then I think ADHD can be a complete superpower."
Highlighting everyday 'weirdness' through campaign
Sam admits he has 'loads' of unusual habits (Flora)
He's admitted he and Zara enjoy a 'nose bop' instead of kissing (Flora)Sam is currently working alongside Flora on a humorous campaign that highlights everyday things we accept are normal, but are actually quite weird when you think about it - including using cow butter instead of vegetable spread.
Speaking with the Mirror about this campaign, Sam, who has created a funny tie-in video, spoke about some of the things he finds quite bizarre in his day-to-day life. Admitting he has 'loads' of unusual habits himself, some of which he only realised after chatting with the Flora team, Sam said: "To be honest, one of the weird things that that I've only realised is weird that we do, [...] is that I nose bop with Zara and actually I've just realised that no one else does that.
"Instead of a kiss, we have a nose bop. [...] You just touch noses and that's sort of like a sign of affection. I've no idea why we do it or anything like that, but we love a nose bop, we really, really do."
He added: "And then it got me thinking, and this is a little bit deep, but when you're in a relationship, do you know what's really weird? Is being two human beings living in the same vicinity. Have you ever had that? Where you look at your partner and go, 'What the f*** am I doing? Who are you? What are you doing? I don't even know you that well!'
"And then you start watching them and then you start judging what they're doing. I've just started doing this now, but it's terrifying. You watch someone fill up a glass of water and you're like, 'Who are you? What are you doing filling up a glass of water next to me as if this is really normal?"
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