How Gemma plans to finally overcome her obsession with Arg
After a decade of going round in circles with on/off boyfriend James ‘Arg’ Argent, the GC is taking drastic steps to end her emotional turmoil once and for all
Showing off her tanned curves in a black bikini as she soaked up the sun in Tenerife last week, Gemma Collins proved she’s not letting her heartbreak over her latest split from James “Arg” Argent stop her weight-loss mission after losing 3st.
In true GC style, the selfcoined diva, 39, looked every inch the glamour queen. She defiantly put on a brave face after the 32-year-old toy boy cruelly branded her a “fat f**k” and a “hippo” in his latest fatshaming attack on the Diva Forever star – just weeks after crediting her with saving his life following his latest stint in rehab for drink and drug addiction and vowing to settle down and start a family with her.
BODY CONFIDENT
A week after news of the split, reports claimed Gemma had cancelled an event in Marbella, at her former TOWIE co-star Elliot Wright’s restaurant, after learning Arg was headed there. Additional claims surfaced that she’d hired a security guard for the event in case her ex caused a scene, before learning he’d planned to win her back.
And pals say the selfconfessed comfort eater – who’s admitted to using SkinnyJabs, combined with a healthier diet, to help her body transformation – is determined to show Arg what he’s missing.
A source says, “In the past, every time Gemma was left heartbroken by Arg, she masked her pain with food and went into self-destruct mode, which she’s determined not to do this time. She’s insisting she won’t let him ruin her physically as well as mentally and, if anything, their split has made her more determined than ever to get to her size 16 goal and prove to both herself and to him that she is in control and can be better and stronger without him.
“Gemma is very down emotionally, but body-wise, she’s feeling more confident than ever. She wants Arg to kick himself and feel sorry about what he’s done when he sees the snaps of her hot new body – especially knowing how much attention she’ll be getting from other men, which at least gives her some satisfaction.”
TOXIC CYCLE
While the pair’s rollercoaster on/off nine-year relationship has been plagued by countless break-ups, pals say the unstoppable entrepreneur – who recently signed a six-figure endorsement deal to be the face of budget airline Wizz Air – says she is determined to make it stick this time.
A source says, “Gem’s focused
on doing whatever she can to break this toxic cycle – she’s tired of it.
“Her friends are wondering about the chances of them getting back together given her history and seeing first-hand the hold he has over her, but she knows she has to try her hardest to move on this time. She deserves more than this, so she is looking into different ways of getting him out of her head.”
The former Dancing on Ice star – who is deeply spiritual and called in her shaman to “cleanse the energy” on the rink during her stint on the show last year – has previously opened up about seeking guidance from psychics.
She also revealed how a clairvoyant said she would marry someone whose name began with the letter ‘A’, after broadcasting the tarot card session to her 1.4 million Instagram followers last year.
The source says, “Gemma’s always found a lot of solace in spiritual healing during tough times in her life. She’s admitted that she never truly embraced it throughout her relationship with Arg, as she was always too afraid of facing the truth. But now, she wants to try whatever she can to end her obsession with him and release herself from the spell he has over her.”
Her rocky relationship with Arg was initially played out on TOWIE. Her unrequited love for the singer and their love triangle with his ex, Lydia Bright, became a recurrent theme of their early romance, which has also been repeatedly plagued by Arg’s cruel comments about her size, despite his own weight battles.
In between their numerous splits, the star has endured a series of troubled romances. She claimed her ex, Alex Moss, assaulted her before her stint on I’m A Celeb! in 2014, but he was never charged and vehemently denies the allegations. She dated convict Stephen Mortimer in 2015 before he was jailed again, and accused her former fiancé, Rami Hawash – to whom she was linked, on/off, for three years, until 2017 – of destroying her self-esteem and leading to a nervous breakdown due to his cruel weight jibes.
In 2016, Gemma made an emotional appearance on Channel 5’s In Therapy, opening up to counsellor Mandy
Saligari about her issues. Speaking about Alex, she said, “I turned him into a movie star. He had a Range Rover... and he f***ed me over so bad.”
And in reference to Rami, she admitted, “I went out with [him] and the only reason I did it was because it would give me a storyline. I didn’t even fancy him. I don’t know what’s real any more.”
NO REGRETS
Dishing out relationship advice on her self-titled podcast earlier this month to a heartbroken fan who revealed her fiancé had dumped her and refused to answer the phone, Gemma said, “Good riddance to bad rubbish. Stay strong, honey, don’t let no one put you down, get the answers you need. Wipe a line under it, hun, get back out there and find a new one to marry.”
Insiders reveal Gemma hopes to find a different type of man to Arg. In her autobiography Basically... My Life As A Real Essex Girl, she described her ideal love, writing, “I have always looked for someone with a darker side. I like men who are edgy, I like gangsters and characters. It’s all about the geezers.”
The source says,
“Gemma doesn’t want to have any regrets or to analyse the past too much. She wants to get to the root of why she’s drawn to bad boys who mistreat her, so she can meet a man who will worship and adore her like she deserves.
“While she’s not rushing into anything, she’s also told pals she’s trying as hard as she can not to waste more time on Arg and wants to go for someone who treats her properly.”
By Daisy McLure
SHE KNOWS SHE HAS TO TRY HARD TO MOVE ON – SHE DESERVES MORE THAN THIS