Sam Thompson and Zara McDermott have ended their five-year relationship, with friends of the Love Island star criticising the breakup as 'poisonous'. The couple, who first got together in 2019, confirmed their split in December 2024, three months after it was reported.
Their relationship had a rocky history, including a brief split in 2019 after McDermott admitted to cheating on Thompson while participating in The X Factor: Celebrity. They reconciled in December 2020, with Thompson telling MailOnline at the time: 'I believe in forgiveness. You can only heal when you forgive the other person and get over that.'
Following the split, McDermott was spotted on a date with One Direction star Louis Tomlinson at a hotel in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. An observer said they 'looked every bit the happy couple', and a friend told MailOnline that McDermott is 'really happy' and it's 'nice for her to have a new start'.
Hours after the photos emerged, Thompson appeared to take a swipe at his ex on his podcast Staying Relevant, saying: 'A lot of people look for validation in other people... I can't do that.' Friends of McDermott criticised his comments, with one telling The Daily Mail: 'He's a loose cannon... It's really quite pathetic of him.' They added that his remarks were 'snide' and 'attention-seeking'.
