Maura Higgins and Joey Essex have sparked rumours of a romance between them after the pair were spotted sharing a steamy kiss at the Pride of Britain Awards last night.
The reality TV stars were pictured getting cosy with each other, locking lips in front of witnesses and were later caught leaving the event together as they shared a taxi.
Fans of Maura’s have been eager to keep up with her love life ever since she shot to fame appearing in the fifth series of Love Island in 2019.
But despite appearing on the hit dating show, which has created successful couples like Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury, Maura has had several unlucky attempts at finding The One.
Here’s everything we know about Laura Higgins dating history, as well as her current relationship status.
Who is Maura Higgins dating now?
(Image: Instagram)
Maura Higgins is currently believed to be single.
Earlier this year the Love Island star was linked to footballer Connor Wickham, with the couple reported to have taken multiple romantic holidays together.
A source told The Sun in June: “A good friend of hers put them in touch and they have been talking for some time.
“Connor and Maura went to Paris last month and it ended up being so romantic.
“They made it official then and have now gone off on their first holiday together as a couple.”
But in July Maura addressed her relationship status following the rumours, confirming that she’s single.
In a Q&A with her Instagram followers Maura responded to a question asking if she was single by saying: “This question just never stops coming up. Every single Q&A that I do, ‘Are you single? Are you dating? Have you a bae?’
“Yes! I’m single! I’m very single. I couldn’t be any more f**king single. I might as well go on Love Island again.”
However, Maura’s recent kiss with Joey Essex has some fans thinking that the couple could be starting a romance.
Maura’s relationship with Strictly star Giovanni Pernice
(Image: Maura Higgins/Instagram)
Rumours of a relationship with Connor Wickham came after Maura’s split from Strictly Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice.
The couple dated for four months before calling it quits in October 2021.
The Sun reported at the time that Maura had been left “utterly heartbroken” after being dumped by Giovanni with a source telling them: “Maura didn’t see this coming and is finding it very difficult to come to terms with. She genuinely thought Gio was the one.”
It was also reported that the couple had split because of conflicting busy schedules.
But Giovanni eventually addressed the reports in a statement posted to Twitter as he said: “Great relationships with great people can come to a natural end. This has been the case for me recently. There was absolutely no wrong-doing and this should be the end of any speculation.”
In December 2021 Maura also gave her Instagram followers advice about how to get over a breakup during a Q&A on the social media platform.
She said: “Allow yourself to grieve! Spend time with the people you love & always remind yourself that everything happens for a reason!! The people who are meant to be in your life will be in your life!!”
Maura’s Love Island romance with Curtis Pritchard
(Image: ITV)
Maura’s love life first became the centre of attention when she appeared on Love Island in 2019.
Her time on the dating show saw her spark up a romance with fellow Islander Curtis Pritchard, but it wasn’t until much later on in the series that their relationship started, with Maura struggling to find a connection at first.
When she entered the Love Island villa she first set her sights on Tommy Fury, but failed to turn his head away from Molly-Mae Hague, who he’s now expecting a baby with.
Moving on from Tommy, Maura went on to couple up with late entrant Tom Walker but their relationship came to a halt when he told the boys “it’ll be interesting to see if she’s all mouth” after the couple won an evening in the Hideaway.
From there, Maura coupled up with Marvin Brooks in Casa Amor but she also realised that he wasn’t the one and dumped him after returning to the main villa.
In a moment that shocked many viewers, Maura then confessed to fancying Curtis Pritchard.
After weeks of being coupled up with other people, they finally got together on day 46 in the villa and went on to finish in fourth place.
They continued dating after the show but split in March 2020. At first the couple seemed to have an amicable split, but they went on to accuse each other of cheating, which they both denied.
Childhood sweetheart and engagement
(Image: Instagram)
Before entering the Love Island villa, Maura revealed she had been in a nine-year relationship.
The reality star was in a long-term relationship with James Finnegan, a mechanic from Ireland, who she met at school.
The romance was so serious that the couple were even engaged at one point, however they never made it down the aisle after splitting in 2017.
It was reported that their romance had fizzled out after Maura’s modelling career began to kick off, which saw her booking glamorous jobs around the world.
James even opened up about their romance to OK! Magazine after Maura made her debut on Love Island.
He confirmed that there was “no bad blood” between the couple, saying: “I still talked to her after we broke up. I’d help her out in anyway I could. I’ve fixed her car a couple of times.
“She was very good to me and I was good to her. We were good to each other. She was kind. She was always there for me. We looked after each other in several ways. She’s a heart of gold.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
