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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Emmeline Saunders

Boozed-up Curtis Pritchard and Maura Higgins' tearful row as she storms out of NTAs after-party

Maura Higgins stormed out of the National Television Awards after a drunken bust-up with boyfriend Curtis Pritchard, eyewitnesses have claimed.

The Love Island 2019 stars, who were hired to present the NTAs red carpet on Tuesday evening, were caught rowing after the glittering event and Maura left Curtis to drink with his pals at the end of the night.

The Irish model and Dancing On Ice star was apparently in tears and called Curtis a "user" while sobbing to her friends.

An onlooker told the Sun that Maura branded herself "a d**k" for trusting him, adding: "He said I only got the NTAs gig because of him. It was actually my management that sorted it."

Curtis Pritchard and Maura Higgins were all smiles as they posed on the red carpet ahead of the NTAs (James Veysey/REX)

She was also overheard crying: "He likes to think that he is the one people are after, him not me.

"He's totally ruined my night."

But a friend of Curtis told Mirror Online that their argument was sparked by exhaustion, as both of them had been at London's O2 Arena since 8am that morning rehearsing for their social media reporting roles.

"It was a very long day - they were both prepping for hours and their row got out of hand.

Curtis and Maura's row was blown out of proportion by exhaustion, says a pal (Ken McKay/ITV/REX)

"Curtis hasn't had a day off since he left the Love Island villa - he's probably the most hard-working of all of that intake, what with pantomime, his other TV commitments, the Greatest Dancer live shows coming up.

"They don't live together either, so both he and Maura had to go their separate ways at the end of the night anyway."

The pair stayed with separate groups of friends at the after-party, witnesses said, and it was suggested that Curtis should leave.

But he reportedly declined to leave the venue, instead downing glasses of white wine with friends and stumbling around the outdoor smoking area, where Maura was.

Maura was seen crying to pals at the NTAs as Curtis downed white wine (BACKGRID)

She refused to go back inside with him and onlookers said they saw her move away from her dancer beau several times.

"Things were clearly very frosty between them," one told the newspaper.

"Curtis seemed to be so drunk he had no idea Maura was just metres away from him."

In the wake of the wild night out, Maura's Instagram Story has been full of pictures of herself posing alone on the red carpet - with just one snap of Curtis.

Maura was overheard crying over Curtis and calling herself a "d**k" for trusting him (Grant Buchanan / SplashNews.com)
Maura managed to give herself a bloody injury when she stacked it at the boozy after-party (Instagram)

She made no mention of him in one post, which she captioned: "I absolutely loved hosting the red carpet last night."

But Curtis did tag her into his Insta post, which again showed him by himself wearing a smart tux on the red carpet.

"Loving my time @officialntas whilst hosting the red carpet with @maurahiggins," he wrote.

It comes after Curtis was forced to deny cheating claims after looking cosy with a mystery brunette woman at a club on New Year's Eve.

Maura's Instagram is flooded with pictures of herself posing solo - with just one mention of Curtis (Mike Marsland/WireImage)

The Greatest Dancer star was seen in video footage with his arms wrapped around the woman at O'Neill's bar in High Wycombe.

But Curtis denied any wrongdoing and Maura appeared to dismiss the speculation when she posted a saucy snap of themselves sharing a naked bubble bath.

Meanwhile, police are investigating a complaint of assault and criminal damage after fellow Love Islander Chris Hughes was caught on camera appearing to swing for a snapper.

Mirror Online has contacted Curtis' rep for comment.

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