Sam Thompson has broken his silence following reports of his New Year’s Day breakup with Zara McDermott. In the I’m A Celebrity spin-off host’s first public comment since the news, he confessed to feeling “hungover” during the recording of the Staying Relevant podcast alongside close pal Pete Wicks, following an evening brimming with alcohol.
On the fittingly named episode The Morning After The Night Before, both appeared notably weary from their festive celebrations. Despite the episode being recorded before the split was public knowledge, Sam praised their “rock star” antics at their Christmas gathering and revealed he downed “about 30 Kamikazes” throughout the festivities.
Describing the previous evening’s events, Pete said: “So last night was a Christmas party, this is the morning after the night before. It’s 11 o’clock, everyone had to be in and we purposely did this because it’s a little test for everyone just to see who made it. Everyone made it.”
The duo proceeded to do a “run-through” of the previous night’s events, with Pete confessing that things “got weird”. The group initially gathered at a hotel bar, reports the Mirror.
Pete pointed out to his pal: “Sam, at the start of the evening, quite awkward from you. I don’t think you knew how to behave on your first Christmas party as a boss.
“Sam walked in and told everyone that they looked lovely – apart from Pippa, who he said ‘You look alright’, which was quite nice from you because you usually tell her she looks like s*** and then he goes ‘She’s like my sister, so it’s fine.’ But you then shook their hands!”
Sam defended himself: “You’ve got to feel it out – first work Christmas party, people are judging! Our employees are judging us on that night out so I just didn’t know whether they wanted to be touched, how they wanted to be touched, and held – so i just went for the handshake.”
This comes as both Sam and Zara are reportedly gutted after their relationship became “impossible”. “Although they have known it’s been over for a while, Sam and Zara are both devastated and heartbroken that they couldn’t make it work as they had so much love for each other,” an insider revealed to OK!
They continued: “When they had problems in the summer they vowed to give it one more try and hoped that they could work through their issues, but it proved impossible as they were just at different stages in their lives.”
Sam celebrated New Year’s Eve at Kensington Roof Gardens in London with ex-Made in Chelsea pals Reza Amiri-Garroussi and Josh Patterson, while Zara stayed home with their cats.
The week before, Sam volunteered for a charity on Christmas Day, and Zara was with her family in Upminster, Essex. Their time apart extended when Sam filmed the I’m A Celebrity spin-off show Unpacked in Australia, as Zara couldn’t join him due to her BBC documentary filming commitments.
A source disclosed to MailOnline: “Sam and Zara have ended their relationship. It’s been an incredibly difficult decision for them to part ways, they still care and have a lot of love for each other.”
They added that despite efforts to make their relationship work, the distance proved challenging, and both are now focusing on their individual careers.
While neither Sam nor Zara has publicly commented on the split, Sam expressed his enthusiasm for 2025 during a New Year’s Day walk on Instagram Stories, saying: “New year! 2025 baby come on let’s have it! I can’t wait. The New year is going to be amazing and you’re going to have the best year ever. And you know I’m always right,” followed by what seemed to be a kiss to his camera.
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