Lauren Goodger has revealed Mark Wright promised to build her their first home together before he married actress Michelle Keegan.
The TOWIE star, 37, recalls her ex-boyfriend talking about his dreams for the future and how she longed for marriage and children during their decade-long romance.
But Lauren says she was forced to watch Mark achieve his goal of building a property from scratch with wife Michelle, who he wed nine years ago.
Lauren believes the 'love' shared between childhood sweethearts never 'goes away' and she's 'proud' of how Mark has furthered himself from reality star to TV presenter.
Despite her longing to have a civil relationship with her ex, Lauren claims the former couple don't speak even though they attend the same gym and often see each other.
Lauren Goodger has revealed Mark Wright promised to build her their first home together before he married actress Michelle Keegan
The TOWIE star recalls her ex-boyfriend talking about his dreams for the future and how she longed for marriage and children during their decade-long romance (pictured in 2011)
But Lauren says she was forced to watch Mark achieve his goal of building a property from scratch with wife Michelle, who he wed nine years ago
Lauren said: 'I remember once he took me to this place near where we lived and said, "I'm going to have a house and I'm going to build it. Do you want that?"
'Of course I do, because I want to have kids in it and I want to get married. And he has done it, but he's moved on. It's not with me.'
Lauren started dating Mark when they were teenagers, before they found fame on ITVBe reality series The Only Way Is Essex.
After an on/off relationship which was heavily documented on the show, they split for good in 2012.
Mark married former Coronation Street actress Michelle over nine years ago and the couple live together in an Essex mansion, complete with gym and outdoor swimming pool, which the Heart Radio host has spent months refining.
Lauren added: 'I don't think that sort of love from childhood goes away.
'I'm happy for him. I don't have them feelings now, today, but I'm proud of him and he probably doesn't even know that because the media have written so many things and he probably thinks it's coming from me. I've never really spoken about him that much.'
Despite her more recent romances, including with ex-boyfriend Charles Drury, who is the father of her daughter Larose, Lauren admits Mark was the love of her life.
Lauren started dating Mark when they were teenagers, before they found fame on ITVBe reality series The Only Way Is Essex (pictured in 2010)
Despite her more recent romances, including with ex-boyfriend Charles Drury, who is the father of her daughter Larose, Lauren admits Mark was the love of her life
Lauren says she believes her relationship with Mark was turbulent because they both played mind games but their mutual feelings for each other kept pulling them back
The reality star is a mother to daughter Larose, who she says has saved her following the devastating loss of her second baby, Lorena
Speaking to Married At First Sight UK star Paul Brunson on his new podcast We Need To Talk, Lauren says she believes her relationship with Mark was turbulent because they both played mind games but their mutual feelings for each other kept pulling them back.
Lauren said: 'I never ever thought I was going to love anyone else. I was with him for twelve years on and off.
'It wasn't a smooth sailing relationship. We broke up a few months here, got back together, but we grew up together. We grew up.
'He was the love of my life. We wouldn't have stayed together for that long if he didn't have this mutual feeling for me.
'And obviously I've been through a lot with him and everyone said to me, "Lauren, he was obsessed with you."
'We'd have the same jealousy. We'd have the same, like, tit for tat, making them jealous, getting back together. He couldn't be without me and I couldn't be without him.'
Amid their relationship, Mark was portrayed as a womaniser on TOWIE following his flings with co-stars Sam Faiers and Lucy Mecklenburgh.
Since leaving the programme, Mark has successfully established himself as a radio and TV host.
Last year, he fronted his own show on the BBC, A Wright Family Holiday, while his wife Michelle topped the Netflix global charts with her starring role in thriller Fool Me Once back in January.
But Lauren believes Mark's destiny could have been different had they stuck by each other through the height of their reality star fame.
She admitted: 'It did go, obviously a little bit toxic at times, but not as bad as what I've experienced later in life.
'Yes, we went through some, what would you call it, like, hard times where there were things that went wrong. But we were kids at one point. That was part of growing. We could have made it if we had gotten older and worked on certain things and maybe had a bit of help.'
Amid their relationship, Mark was portrayed as a womaniser on TOWIE following his flings with co-stars Sam Faiers and Lucy Mecklenburgh (pictured in 2011)
Lauren returned to TOWIE earlier this year, filming scenes with the cast including Harry Derbidge and Ella Rae Wise
During the no holds barred podcast, Lauren spoke openly about her complicated love life, ongoing struggles with body image and the devastating loss of her second baby, Lorena, who died two minutes after being born in 2022.
Lauren has been single for the past two years after she accused ex-Charles of assaulting her on the day of their daughter's funeral.
Charles was charged with inflicting actual bodily harm on Lauren but was cleared of the assault after she withdrew her support for the prosecution.
She also dated Jake McLean, who died in July 2022 in Turkey following a horror car crash.
It was later revealed that Jake, whose girlfriend Yazmin Oukhellou sat in the passenger's seat, got behind the wheel despite being three times over the drink-drive limit and under the influence of cocaine.
Following many years of trauma, Lauren, who returned to TOWIE earlier this year, seeks relief in the gym.
The star says, like an orchestrated scene from the reality series, she regularly bumps into Mark during her workouts but they don't speak a word to each other.
Lauren revealed: 'We do see each other, but we don't speak at all. It's very, very strange. I would happily say hello, but if I'm not wanted somewhere, I shut off.
'We go to the same gym and stuff, and we don't live far from each other. I've stood next to him in a queue before at the gym and it is awkward.
'Obviously, he's moved on with his life. He's got to respect that. And I respect that. But I would love to say, "Hey, how are you? Like, all good", but it's never happened.
'We don't speak at all. We would never speak now because his life has progressed so much and I have to respect that and he respects his partner and his new life and whatever.'
Lauren predicts that Mark avoids engaging with her out of respect to Michelle and she sympathises with how the couple are under constant public scrutiny.
She said: 'Listen, I actually feel a bit sorry for them because of the media.
'How can he be seen chatting to me? If someone took a photo of that or said something, it could cause a lot of trouble, more than what it is. So that's where it's difficult, and I understand that. I respect that and keep my space.'
