Insiders tell Closer that James Argent’s dreams have turned to dust after his domestic violence offence against girlfriend Nicoline Artursson
Fans were left shocked last week after James ‘Arg’ Argent made headlines for a horrifying attack on his now ex-girlfriend in Spain following a row.
The former TOWIE favourite was given a six-month suspended prison sentence for domestic violence offences against Nicoline Artursson. Arg, 37, was also issued with a two-year restraining order against fashion model Nicoline, 32, after he was reported to have shoved her down steps during a heated row outside her apartment in Spain. The court also ordered him to complete a course on gender violence.
Witnesses had reported seeing the couple row, with Arg throwing her clothes from a balcony before he pushed Nicoline down steps outside the apartment, leaving her ‘severely hurt’ and crying out for help. Neighbours called the police, but the reality star is then said to have continued to throw objects out of the apartment while she lay on the ground. According to bystanders who rushed to help her, it was a ‘brutal act of abuse’.
Nicoline, who was treated for her injuries in hospital, is reported to have told a passer-by, ‘I can’t believe what’s happened...we planned to have a family.’
Arg, who had seemingly turned his life around in recent years following high-profile battles with drugs, alcohol and eating issues, briefly spoke to a reporter after news of his conviction, saying, ‘I haven’t relapsed – I am still three years and four months clean and sober. I am devastated by what’s happened’.
And insiders tell Closer that the incident has derailed Arg’s life amid his plans to reinvent himself as a West End performer.
A source close to the star – who previously starred in panto and sings with The Arg Band – says, ‘Arg had been taking vocal coaching seriously, training in acting, and even turning down reality TV offers to focus on this fresh chapter. He spoke often about how the stage gave him a sense of purpose, like he was finally chasing something meaningful.’
The source continues, ‘This West End role was meant to be his big comeback after his weight loss success – it was a real moment of redemption and he poured his heart into it. Now, it’s all gone in an instant. It’s devastating for him and for everyone who believed in his comeback. It’s a massive fall from grace – like watching everything he built just collapse overnight.’
While he insists he is still sober, Arg previously spent stints in rehab for his addiction to drugs and alcohol. He admitted that his cocaine addiction rocketed around 18 months after he started on TOWIE in 2010, and he also suffered two near-fatal overdoses.
It has been reported that it was a since-deleted Instagram post of Nicoline’s that sparked a row between her and Arg, who she started dating last July after meeting by chance in a Marbella supermarket.
The post is believed to have said in part, ‘Is it OK if your boyfriend or girlfriend is talking and hanging out with their ex and the ex’s family daily and liking their Instagram posts etc? No kids involved with the ex.’
It has been suggested that Arg believed the post was about Lydia Bright, his childhood sweetheart who he was in an on/off relationship with until 2016. The pair were renowned for their tumultuous romance, much of which played out for the cameras on TOWIE. In one scene, Lydia’s mum Debbie comforted her over ‘vile’ texts Arg had sent her – including one where he allegedly labelled her a ‘slut’ for sleeping with someone else once they’d split in 2012.
Arg’s behaviour also came under scrutiny during his infamous on/off romance with Gemma Collins, who is believed to have dumped him for good in 2019 after he cruelly said, ‘You fat horrible lump…You’ve got more rolls than Greggs.’ In another upsetting text exchange, he’d apparently dubbed her a ‘fat f**k’ and a ‘hippo’.
But despite the notorious highs and lows of his relationship with Lydia, Arg has remained close to both her and Debbie, with the crooner even part of his ex’s five-year-old daughter Loretta’s life.
‘I will always be grateful for what he did for me in my life, and we’ve always remained very good friends. We’ve been through so much together,’ Lydia previously told Closer.
A source claims, ‘Nicoline’s post, in Arg’s eyes, was about Lydia, and he turned. He knows his behaviour is inexcusable. That’s why he told the police exactly what happened.’
Loved ones are understood to be shocked by the news. Only last month, his best pal Mark Wright, 38 – who starred alongside him on TOWIE – told MailOnline how proud he was of Arg’s rocketing singing career and opened up about the double dates they had enjoyed with their other halves, including Mark’s wife Michelle Keegan.
The source concludes, ‘Everyone around him was rooting for him. But now, everything has fallen apart. His West End role was a chance for him to prove to the world that he could be more than just reality TV. He was clean, focused and genuinely excited. What’s happened now has shattered all of those dreams.’
