Sam Thompson dating history: From Zara McDermott to Sophie Habboo
SAM Thompson’s ex Zara McDermott is in a relationship with One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson.
The Made in Chelsea and I’m A Celebrity star was ‘blindsided’ by the news — here we take a look at Sam’s exes.
On March 17, 2025, The Sun exclusively revealed One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson and Strictly star Zara McDermott were dating, after the pair were spotted on a cosy night out.
But her old flame Sam Thompson was mortified when he heard the news and shocked by how quickly she seems to have moved on.
A source told The Sun: “Sam is obviously devastated by the news, he was with Zara for years and the break-up has hit him hard.
“He’s taking some time out to focus on himself — it’s completely blindsided and embarrassed him.
“He didn’t expect Zara to move on so quickly and he’s still dealing with the aftermath of the split.
“He’s not found the split easy and has been trying to keep busy and take his mind off it by focusing on work, friends and family.
“But everyone can see that he’s struggling and just needs to take some time out to reassess things.”
Here we take a look at Sam’s dating history…
Zara McDermott (2019-2024)
Sam’s most recent and longest relationship was with former Love Island star Zara McDermott.
Their romance began in May 2019 when Zara slid into Sam’s DMs on Instagram.
Both of them had only recently become single — Zara had just split from Love Island’s Adam Collard and Sam had been dumped by Sohpie Habboo.
The couple’s romance quickly became public, with Zara joining the cast of Channel 4‘s Made in Chelsea.
However, their relationship faced a significant challenge when it was revealed that Zara had been unfaithful.
She confessed to having a fling with music exec Brahim Fourad while taking part in The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019.
This led to a temporary breakup, which was dramatically captured on Made in Chelsea.
Despite this setback, the couple reconciled in December 2020 and continued their relationship for several years.
In January 2025, The Sun revealed that the couple had split once more, after dating for five years.
A source close to the couple told 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.
“But after a tough year of working hard at their romance, they have split and will be focusing on their individual careers going forward into 2025.
“There has been no scandal or fallout between them, it’s just the result of a difficult year, where they both had to spend a lot of time focused on their own projects.”
Zara had previously revealed she and Sam were not together for Christmas.
Sophie ‘Habbs’ Habboo (2018)
Sam dated Sophie Habboo, also known as “Habbs”, for approximately six months in 2018 during their time on Made in Chelsea.
Sophie ended the relationship, later revealing that Sam’s doting nature was unappealing to her as she preferred more independence in a relationship.
She told New!: “His best [attribute] was he doted on my hand and foot, but his worst was maybe that he doted on me too much.
“Some girls like that, I don’t. For me, I don’t like someone who’s needy. Independence is key.
“[I would] Absolutely not [go back out with him]. He treated me well, he was lovely to me and he was a great boyfriend.
“I couldn’t fault him in any way but he wasn’t right for me unfortunately.”
Sophie is now married to Sam’s best mate Jamie Laing.
The couple host the NewlyWeds podcast together.
In 2024, Jamie frankly revealed things between him and Sophie in the bedroom had already fizzled out.
They have therapy together twice a month, with Jamie explaining: “I said to Sophie, ‘Look, 40 or 50 per cent of marriages end in divorce, I think it’ll be really good to do’, so we still go every other week and I think therapy brings self-awareness.”
Amelia Lily (2017)
Sam and singer Amelia Lily met while appearing on the same series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.
Their romance continued briefly outside the show but was short-lived.
Sam later admitted to not treating Amelia well during their relationship, acknowledging his shortcomings as a contributing factor to their breakup.
He told the Sun’s Bizarre column: “I’m back up. I make no qualms about it, I didn’t treat Amelia Lily very well… hence why she dumped me.
“I had been down there on the floor for a bit and I think it’s time to pick myself up a bit. All my family and friends are like ‘dude just get on with it’ and everyone else is.”
Tiffany Watson (2014-2017)
Sam’s relationship with Tiffany Watson began shortly after she joined Made in Chelsea in 2014.
Their romance was tumultuous and plagued by cheating rumours.
They had an on-again, off-again relationship for three years before finally calling it quits in 2017.
Tiffany’s history with Sam was a source of tension during his subsequent relationship with Zara.