Towie legend Kirk Norcross has claimed he was “never in a relationship” with Amy Childs on the show.
The two joined the show when it began back in 2010 with the likes of Mark Wright, Lauren Goodger and James Argent.
The two reality stars were in a supposed relationship during the first series – however, Kirk has now confessed the producers “manipulated” it all.
Speaking on The Dozen with Liam Tuffs podcast, the 36-year-old confessed: “You would think that I went out with [Amy] in series one that I ‘cheated on her’ with Lauren Pope who was my girlfriend.”
“Everyone thought [me and Amy] were in a relationship in series one.”
“We were never in a relationship. The whole of series one Amy had a boyfriend that didn’t want to be on TV but they love relationships and they loved that me and Amy were very friendly and had a connection.”
He continued: “It was all manipulated. The whole of series one, me and Amy looked like a couple but I’m single and I get introduced to Lauren. We start dating and I really start to like her.”
“I told the producers, ‘I don’t know how you’re going to go about this but I’m single and I’ve met Lauren and she’s my girlfriend’.”
“[They said] ‘We’re going to have to bring her on the show Kirk’.”
He explained that the producers went on to set up a storyline for Kirk and Lauren to “meet” on-screen.
This involved Lauren being booked in for a meeting with Kirk who was interested in hiring her as she was a DJ at the time.
The reality star continued to explain that the show then wrote in a storyline to “catch him cheating” on Amy with Lauren.
He explained: “So all I know, Lauren is coming on and we’ve got to make out that we don’t know each other.”
“This how f***ed up it is and listen, I don’t have any reason to lie about any of this.”
“So me and Lauren met up at a restaurant for a coffee, purely to talk about booking her as a DJ – it was completely fabricated, she was my girlfriend at this time – so we’re filming talking about her doing a trial at the nightclub”
He continued: “They said they’d cut the cameras – [but] they never cut when they say cut – so me and Lauren weren’t allowed to be boyfriend/girlfriend when they’re filming, but the minute they cut I gave her a little kiss and held her hand.”
“…When I watched that episode back, they didn’t cut the cameras, they put romantic music, they had Sam and Billie walk in and it cuts to a close up of me and Lauren holding hands.”
“Then they’re ringing Amy, ‘We’ve just seen Kirk cheating on you with Lauren’. ”
He added: “I got f**king slated on social media.”
