Amy Childs was thrilled when she landed a role on the new ITV reality series, The Only Way Is Essex. As a beautician working in the bougie town of Brentwood, she had dreams of becoming rich and famous. And of course, finding her dream man.
This was almost 15 years ago and Amy’s ambitions were helped by the fact her ‘vajazzle’ (a pubic area decorated with crystals and glitter) became a national talking point. Soon she was one of the show’s stand out stars.
Her love life turned out to be not quite so straightforward. In fact, friends of hers tell me she was a ‘player’ and very proud of being one.
In 2021, Amy at last met her match when she began dating a fellow reality TV star, Billy Delbosq, who had been a cast member on Channel 4 relationship show First Dates.
Like Amy, who enjoyed an on-off romance with her TOWIE co-star Kirk Norcross, among others, Billy had a rather lengthy list of exes. But they fell for one another and in 2023, after Amy gave birth to their twins Billy River and Amelia Mae, became engaged.
Last month, however, despite their apparent happiness, Amy, 34, stunned her fans by calling off the wedding, prompting much speculation that her relationship with Billy could be in trouble. It is the second time she has postponed the nuptials after cancelling them back in 2023, because she wasn’t sure if Billy really wanted to marry her.
Rumours that all is not well in their romance were exacerbated when she was seen without her crystal engagement ring on Monday this week while out on a shopping trip.
Now, I can reveal, friends of the couple fear that ‘something bad may have happened’.
Amy Childs and Billy Delbosq, their twins Billy River and Amelia Mae and Polly, Amy's daughter from a previous relationship
Ms Childs at the opening of her salon in Brentwood, Essex, in 2011
Ms Childs and Delbosq started dating in 2021, but friends fear something has happened between the pair after seeing Ms Childs without her engagement ring
One said: ‘Billy has always been a player. He’s one of the biggest players in Essex. He is rich, and loves flashing the cash and showing off.
‘He inherited a lot of money and has invested in some gyms. He is quite the big deal and when he got with Amy quite a few people in the area were questioning what he was doing with her.
‘She had several relationships behind her and already had two children with two previous partners. But it was really sweet - Billy would just reply “I really do love her” to any of these questions.
‘But now there are fears that all is not well, that something could have happened between them.’
And that, says one friend of Amy’s, could be why she was pictured looking very thin and without her engagement ring during her shopping trip.
The clinging brown gym gear and chunky beige sandals she wore while out on errands in Brentwood, Essex, served only to highlight her two-stone weight loss of recent months.
Amy hid her eyes behind dark sunglasses, and to add to her woes found she had been slapped with a parking ticket when she returned to her car.
However, other sources close to her insist she had taken her ring off to go to the gym and that she and Billy are in fact ‘more in love than ever’ .
Ms Childs was seen without her engagement ring while running errands in Brentwood
Ms Childs has been deeply concerned by the poor health of her mum Julie, who was rushed to hospital in April after suffering a heart attack. Pictured together in 2014
Ms Childs told OK! Magazine: ‘I’m going through so much at the minute that the weight has fallen off me'
Those on the Essex circuit have speculated that Ms Childs has used weight-loss jabs
If that’s the case, there was little evidence of it on Thursday morning when the couple were spotted at Stansted airport en route to Spain for some TOWIE filming. As they pushed their children in their buggies into the terminal - to join the likes of Lauren Goodger, Ella Rae Wise and Dan Edgar – they appeared preoccupied and unsmiling.
‘They usually seem so happy together,’ said one pal. ‘This time they looked really down in the dumps, neither particularly looked like they wanted to be there.
‘It’s sad.’
As well as cancelling the wedding, Amy has been left deeply concerned by the poor health of her mum Julie, 59, who appeared on TOWIE in 2011. In April, Julie was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after suffering a heart attack.
As if things weren’t already torrid enough for Amy, she has also been on the receiving end of much trolling for her weight loss.
She told OK! Magazine: ‘I’m going through so much at the minute that the weight has fallen off me. I worry about my mum constantly. She’s very emotional – she thinks she’s going to have another heart attack.
‘People think I’m not eating, but I do eat. To be honest, I do feel better when I’m a bit heavier than I am at the moment. There’s so much going on at the minute – it’s the result of pure stress. We’re also having renovations done in the midst of parenting four kids.’
It isn’t just those on social media who are being cruel about her. So too are some of those in her own circles.
I can reveal that one snitch on the Essex circuit has been gossiping about the possibility that weight-loss jabs, which she has been open about using in the past, have contributed to her thin physique.
‘Everyone in Essex is on Mounjaro,’ said one. ‘Amy has said she has used it in the past, so obviously there is much chatter that [her weight loss] is because of that.
‘Those who move in Amy’s kinds of circles can be very mean, so this whole situation has given people lots to talk about and there is no doubt that there will be more and more to come from this one.’
