Zara McDermott and Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson SPLIT following 16 month romance

Zara McDermott and Sam Thompson have split after 16 months together, MailOnline can exclusively reveal.

Love Island star Zara, 23, and Made In Chelsea’s Sam, 28, called quits on their romance last month, just weeks after enjoying a loved-up holiday in Mykonos.

The end of their relationship comes days after Sam’s sister Louise, 30, posted a cryptic tweet about a friend ‘cheating’ and trust taking ‘seconds to break.’

A source told MailOnline: ‘Zara and Sam split towards the end of last month.

‘They had been arguing a lot since moving in together as a result of lockdown and things just built up between them.

‘Zara has moved back to her parents’ house in Essex where she’s taking some time for herself, she really loved Sam so this hasn’t been easy for her.

‘Sam has gone away to have a break from it all and clear his head away from Zara and social media.’

Louise tweeted last Wednesday: ‘Cheaters always want you to be loyal while they’re being unfaithful,’ which prompted fans to assume she had trouble in her own relationship with fiancé Ryan Libbey.

Days later she sparked further speculation by posting: ‘Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair’ followed by ‘I’m proud of my heart. It’s been played, stabbed, cheated, burned and broken… somehow still works.’ 

An insider told MailOnline: ‘Things between Louise and Ryan are really great. Her tweet last week was actually aimed at a friend.’

Zara and Sam, who regularly post on Instagram and TikTok together, haven’t shared any content as a couple since August. 

The couple went public with their romance in May 2019, four months after Zara’s split from Love Island co-star Adam Collard.

Zara joined the cast of E4’s Made In Chelsea, where she and Sam have been filmed having numerous arguments over his continued friendship with ex-girlfriend and co-star Tiffany Watson.

Earlier this year, the pair had words over Sam sharing a taxi home with Tiffany after a night out, leaving Zara to doubt the trust in their relationship.

Sam and Tiff split in 2017, which led to her exit from the reality show, before re-joining the cast as a single woman this year. 

Zara moved into Sam’s west London home at the start of lockdown, and confessed to MailOnline that living together for the first time had put a strain on their relationship.

Speaking in July, Zara said: ‘I have learnt more about Sam in the last couple of months than I have the whole of last year. Sam is quite a weird person.

‘He needs his space but also likes attention and it’s been hard to know when to give him his boy time and when to be a really attentive girlfriend.

‘It hasn’t been plain sailing for us like we have argued over the most stupid things. I would think ‘Why am I arguing with Sam over who’s unloading the dishwasher today?’

‘Sometimes I will do the wrong thing and he’ll do the wrong thing but it’s part of being in a relationship.’

Zara, who launched her singing career on The X Factor: Celebrity last year, told MailOnline she believed her relationship with Sam would be long-lasting and had dreams of the pair marrying.

She said: ‘I would not be with someone who I couldn’t see myself being with forever. I know him well enough to know the way we work and being able to smile and laugh everyday is not something I’ve never had before. 

‘Sam teaches me not to take myself so seriously. He brings out all the good in me and that’s all I want in a person.

‘His sister Louise is like a sister to me now, we are super close and lockdown has bought us together so much.

‘I don’t know how we’re going to have time apart now. I do love him so much – he’s the sweetest thing.’