Are any TOWIE relationships in our top 5 reality TV couples?
Here in Britain, we love nothing more than gawping at the love lives of complete strangers on reality TV shows "" in fact, it's become something of a national sport to read about their exploits in the celebrity gossip columns in recent years. It was Big Brother that kicked it all off in the early 2000s "" remember Helen and Paul? (no, us neither) "" and since then dozens of relationships have blossomed in the glare of the TV camera.
And if one programme has kicked it up a notch in recent years, it's The Only Way Is Essex "" a show that has had no end of bed-hopping and late-night frolics. With the latest series hitting our screens at the moment, we've been looking at our favourite reality TV couples from down the years - it may come as no surprise that TOWIE features in there"
1. Graham Winston-Peters and Ivy Pink
Who? We're guessing you haven't heard the names, but you'll certainly know their faces "" they've chalked up an amazing 50 appearances on reality TV shows in recent years. From getting engaged on All Star Mr and Mrs to going property hunting on A Place In The Sun, the fame-hungry duo have been a staple of cheap daytime and evening telly.
2. Nikki Grahame and Pete Bennett
This pair lit up the seventh series of Big Brother in 2006 "" Nikki even spawned her own catchphrases ("who is she?") and short-lived spin-off shows as a result. Sadly, their split shortly after Pete won the show and the 100,000 prize did little to prove that their relationship was carried out for anything other than the TV cameras.
3. Ziggy Lichman and Chanelle Hayes
They were dubbed the Posh and Becks of the Big Brother house in 2007, and not without good reason "" the brassy Yorkshire lass had more than a passing resemblance to the tuneless Spice Girl. After sneaking off for secret kissing sessions in the toilets early in the series, the pair became increasingly indiscreet as the show wore on. Predictably, their romance didn't last when they left the house, but they left us with plenty of happy memories.
4. Mark Wright and Lauren Goodger
TOWIE's power couple had a ten-year on-off romance before finally calling it a day earlier this year. It didn't help that he had flings with other stars of the show "" including Sam Faiers and Lucy Mecklenburgh "" which gave the
celebrity news sites something to write about at least.
5. Preston and Chantelle
No list of reality TV couples would be complete without these Celebrity Big Brother lovebirds, who went on to get married in a glitzy gossip magazine-sponsored ceremony shortly after leaving the house before it all famously ended in a flood of tears, tantrums and cosmetic surgery.
