Joey Essex says his relationship with Sam Faiers has benefited from no longer being shown on ‘The Only Way Is Essex’.
The reality TV star and his lover – who have had two breakups and a broken engagement – are in a better place without being on the show, and he insisted they are "a lot happier" with their romance.
He told The Sun on Sunday newspaper’s Fabulous magazine: "When you’re playing out a relationship on TV, you’re in each other’s faces all the time.
"Now it’s a normal relationship and it’s a lot more healthy. Before we used to see each other on telly. Now we see each other when we’re watching TV on my sofa or hers.
"We’re a lot happier, 100 per cent. We’re a lot busier than we were on ‘TOWIE’, so we have to plan when we can see each other. Unfortunately, when I was in Ibiza, she was in Portugal doing a personal appearance."
Meanwhile, Joey opened up about their reunion in March following a split 10 months earlier, and admitted her being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease prompted him to talk to her again.
He said: "[The illness] gave me, not an excuse, but [I felt] like I, 100 per cent, needed to talk to her.
"It was like, I can’t not talk to her. As soon as we spoke to each other, it was like that.
"It’s all or nothing with me and Sam. It’s like every time we’re talking [and then] we split up, but as soon as we start talking again, it’s full on."
Joey Essex and Sam Faiers are ‘a lot happier’
