Love Island star Maura Higgins starred in a promo video for ITV Racing’s coverage of Cheltenham Festival, following the fallout from her alleged kiss with Danny Jones
Maura Higgins appeared to brush off all of that BRITs ‘kiss’ drama with a new TV promo.
The Love Island star, 34, appeared to lock lips with married McFly star Danny Jones, 38, at a BRITs afterparty last weekend. Footage from The Sun seemed to show the pair sharing a quick smooch by a curtain at Universal’s party at 180 Studios on the Strand in London.
A source claimed: “Danny and Maura seemed to be having a great time. They looked like they had a brief drunken kiss. Danny and Maura seem to have a close friendship after meeting in the jungle. They were talking and laughing for ages.”
Maura, who friends claim is “really struggling” with the backlash from the alleged kiss, took to Instagram on Tuesday (March 11) with a promo clip for ITV Racing’s coverage of The Cheltenham Festival. Cheltenham will host world class racing over four days from Tuesday until Friday March 14.
In the pre-recorded clip, which features a brief cameo by former Irish jocker Rupert ‘Ruby’ Walsh, Maura appeared from inside an Irish pub and expressed her support for the Irish. She looked stylish in a tweed blazer with a cream polo neck as she strutted around the boozer and rolled her eyes.
“You’re going to hear a lot of noise this week,” she declared at the start of the clip. “‘Willie Mullins wins another’, ‘Our girl Rachel does it again’, ‘The Irish dominate Cheltenham… blah blah blah!”
“We’re gracious winners, not boastful,” she quipped as she recounted Ireland’s success at the festival over the years and raised a pint of Guinness with others in the pub. “I’m not even going to mention Istabraq, Dawn Run, eh, Hurricane Fly!… Oh to hell with it, it’s Cheltenham and we’re going to win it all!”
Maura has jetted off to Los Angeles to do a photoshoot in the wake of the kissing scandal. Her friends have now claimed she’s “in a bad way” and “really struggling” with the backlash from the alleged drunken kiss.
A friend told the Mirror: “Maura is a tough character but the reaction to events of the last week has been utterly relentless, and it’s fair to say it’s taken its toll. She has found all of this very difficult to navigate. She appreciates she’s in the public eye and there is extra interest around her, but the abuse is off the charts, and people need to calm down.”
The friend said the last week has been “horrendous” for Maura as she has been the subject of “horrific” trolling on social media because of it. They added: “She is trying to treat things as business as usual, but it’s hard.”
The video, believed to have been taken just before 3am, appears to show former I’m A Celeb co-stars Maura and Danny standing by a foyer and leaning in for a brief kiss by the curtains as they engage in conversation. A second video has emerged which appeared to show the pair at another afterparty at the Nobu Hotel in Marylebone.
An onlooker said: “Danny and Maura seemed to be enjoying their night of partying. They were knocking back wine at the Nobu from 4am and seemed keen to carry on. They weren’t seen leaving before 6am.”
It’s reported Danny is having crisis talks with his wife Georgia, a former Miss England and podcaster, in an attempt to rescue their marriage. The pair wed in 2014 and share six-year-old son Cooper.
A source told the Mirror: “Everyone would understand why Danny and his wife have been quiet. They are likely working through various discussions from the first video that was released alone. With this second video, Danny needs to now speak out.
“Maura is getting a lot of the backlash and Danny seems to be getting away with his actions as a husband who was supposed to have been in love with his wife for over a decade. Danny’s career should be halted at this point and he should be big enough to now speak out to everyone and explain what has happened and take some accountability.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
