Sam Thompson breaks silence on 'tough' month following reports of Zara McDermott split

Sam Thompson told podcast listeners today he's been 'going through some stuff' behind the scenes, following rumours of his break-up with long-term girlfriend, Zara McDermott.

Speaking out for the first time since split speculation first hit headlines, the former Made In Chelsea star described recent weeks as having been 'real tough'.

The Mail first reported that 32-year-old Sam and 28-year-old Zara had ended their relationship on 1 Jan, having allegedly spent the 2025 countdown apart.

The publication claimed that whilst ex-I'm A Celeb winner Sam rang in the New Year alongside former cast-mates Reza Amiri-Garroussi and Josh Patterson at London's Kensington Roof Gardens, Love Island alum Zara spent the evening at home with their two cats.

Their supposedly separate New Year's celebration closely followed a separate Christmas endured by the couple, with Zara having remained with her family in Upminster, Essex, and Sam volunteering in London for charity.

The publication also alleged that, in the weeks prior, Sam had been busy working in Australia, featuring as a regular on the IAC spin-off series Unpacked, while Zara worked on her own work commitments in the UK - including her own clothing line Rise, and several BBC documentaries.

The same source that reported on their respective New Years and Christmas plans also told the Mail that they've made the 'incredibly difficult decision' to 'end their relationship'.

"They still care and have a lot of love for each other," the insider added. "But after a tough year of working hard at their romance, they have split and will be focusing on their individual careers going forward into 2025.

"There has been no scandal or fallout between them, it's just the result of a difficult year, where they both had to spend a lot of time focused on their own projects."

Though neither Zara nor Sam have explicitly confirmed speculation of their split, or announced the news on social media, the latter has today spoken out over a 'tough' few weeks.

Sam and bff Pete Wicks today recommenced filming their much-loved Staying Relevant podcast, where the former TOWIE star asked him, 'What's been going on?', before admitting he'd been somewhat unreachable to Sam in recent weeks.

"I went off radar for a couple of weeks," Pete explained. "I put my phone in a drawer and disappeared."

Sam then joked back: "I've been going through some stuff Pete and I called you 15 times."

Pete then admitted he 'did feel bad' over the matter, claiming he 'didn't realise' Sam had been 'effectively on the edge over Christmas'.

Later in the episode, Pete joked that the 'favourite part' of their catch up 'was I asked Sam how was your Christmas and he said, it was like being in a Christmas tomb.'

Sam and Zara first got together in 2019, after he slid into her Instagram DMs.

At the time, Zara was considered a hugely successful social media influencer, having starred on the 2018 series of Love Island alongside ex-boyfriend, Adam Collard.

Sam, meanwhile, was recognised for his long-standing role on Made In Chelsea, upon which he'd enjoyed several high-profile romances, including with Tiffany Watson and Sophie Habboo.

A year after they went public, however, Zara and Sam's relationship came to a temporary end after she confessed to having cheated on him during an appearance on Celebrity X Factor.

Thankfully, they were able to get through their rough patch and appeared to have gotten ever stronger in the years that followed, regularly sharing hilarious TikTok videos, travel vlogs, fashion inspo and recipes together online.

Sadly, however, the pair were last spotted publicly together in early December when they celebrated Zara's birthday.

At the time, Sam shared an Instagram post dedicated to the special day, referring to Zara as both his 'soulmate' and 'best friend'.

Less than a week later, however, Sam was papped alongside Pete outside of Stringfellows strip club at 4am.

Tyla contacted Sam and Zara's representatives for comment.