Gemma Collins is fierce, fabulous and 40! The TOWIE diva is celebrating her milestone birthday today - no doubt in as epic a fashion as lockdown will allow.
And earlier this week she got the best birthday present possible when her dad Alan, 72, returned home from hospital after getting Covid.
Dishing on her plans earlier this week, The GC revealed she'd had to cancel her huge 48-hour party - complete with 'garage singers and every cuisine from around the world'.
Instead, she's ordered her favourite desserts for herself and her dad to enjoy.
"The fact that I can sit with my dad eating cake on my birthday is absolutely priceless," she said on her BBC podcast.
"I've ordered three large French fancies. They are my favourite cake in the whole wide world and Battenberg.
"I didn’t want to be too greedy. My birthday wish is just to be so happy with what I've got.
"I just want to wish for eternal happiness."
Indeed, for years now Gemma has been looking for a man to create that happiness with, and desperately wants to have a baby this year.
But sadly her relationship history has been riddled with false starts, cheating and heartbreak. Here, The Mirror looks back at the lost loves of The GC...
Rami Hawash, 2011 - 2014 & 2017
Gemma was back and forth with ex-fiance Rami Hawash, who proposed in 2013 by sticking a ring in her Christmas pudding.
The owner of a mechanical repairs company in Romford, Essex, he made a brief appearance on TOWIE in series nine when he joined Gemma in Marbs.
However, they split six months later and Rami blamed their separation on her GC persona.
“The GC is a protective armour for her. My favourite time with her was Sunday lunch with her parents and brother," he previously told The Mirror.
"That was the real Gemma. She wouldn’t pull The GC in front of her dad Alan. She was happy, funny and lovely.
“I would wake up in the morning and I would look in her eyes. In a second I knew if it was sweet, funny Gemma who would make me breakfast and a nice cup of tea...or whether it was The GC. There was no breakfast with The GC.
“If I could have evicted The GC and lived with Gemma Collins, things would have been different.
“We might have been married with a family now.”
For Gemma's part, last year she admitted she should never have said 'yes' to Rami's proposal, confessing: “I knew it wasn’t right because when he asked me to marry him I zoned out and sort of stared into space. I should have said no, but I didn’t have the guts.”
Charlie King, 2012
Gemma was pictured holding hands with the hunky personal trainer and model on a night out in London, and years later she confirmed on TOWIE that they'd 'shared a kiss'.
It quickly fizzled out with Charlie explaining that they 'didn't click', but behind the scenes he was struggling to come to terms with his sexuality.
He told aTEEN : “Gemma was someone who I really did like – I found myself drawn to her as a person. I dated her because I thought at that time it was what I wanted to do.
“I guess looking back I can see how it looks now – she wasn’t going to want to jump into bed right away, nor did I think she would pressure me to do so.
“We didn’t click and I guess deep down my struggles with identifying who I am were lurking in the distance.”
Charlie came out as gay live on This Morning in 2014, and said host Phillip Schofield - who went on to do the same in 2020 - was a huge support on the day.
He told new! magazine: "Coming out on live TV was a huge moment for me. But when I got to the green room, part of me wasn't really sure if I wanted to go ahead with it.
"I'd never met Phil before, but he came in and was so supportive. It made me realise I had to do it.
"I remember him saying, 'This is a big day for you, isn't it?' It really was, and he told me everything was going to be fine."
Charlie continued: "It was the reassurance I needed. During the interview, he was so lovely, calming and supportive."
James 'Arg' Argent
Gemma and Arg got off to a bad start in 2012 when a brief fling ended when Arg slagged off The GC's body.
In a now famous episode of TOWIE, Gemma broke things off by sauntering up to Arg in swimwear in Marbella.
"Well let me tell you something now, you don’t ever disrespect a girl like that again," she said before dropping her sarong to the floor.
"Take a good look at this, you ain’t ever gonna get this candy," she continued.
"I might not be a size 10 but I've got a good heart, so take that and kiss that!"
But in 2016 Arg was back in Gemma's bed. The only problem was he'd also been in ex-girlfriend Lydia Bright's bed that same night.
Learning of his double dealing, Lydia said she was in "complete and utter emotional and physical shock".
"I had a plate of paella with Gemma the next day, we shared Arg the night before and a paella the next day," she raged.
Heartbroken and confused, Gemma decided to leave Essex to get her head straight, telling her on-off ex, "I can't make you like me, I can't make you fall in love with me."
They reunited yet again in 2018, but all hell broke loose when a mortified Gemma dumped him for sharing a video of her snoring on Instagram.
Arg then fat-shamed her, sniping that she had "more rolls than Greggs" in a slew of abusive messages.
But the pair couldn't stay away from each other and when Arg got clean a year ago after beating an addiction to cocaine, Gemma took him back once more.
Tragically, they suffered a miscarriage during the first lockdown and Gemma walked out last summer when Arg reportedly told her he wanted an open relationship.
Of course, the split didn't last long with sources claiming they're an item once more and planning to have a baby.
On her hopes for the year, Gemma said on her podcast: "My main focus this year will be to really be comfortable being Gemma Collins, and definitely committing and giving quality time to a relationship and, hopefully, I'm going to have a baby."
Alexander Moss, 2014
Gemma first met Alex in her early 20s after asking a pal to find her “a geezer – a bit of gangster but with a big heart."
They dated in 2014, but called time on their relationship the day before she flew out to star in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.
The reality star famously quit the jungle in a fragile state after just 72 hours, alleging she had been assaulted by Alex before she left.
He was subsequently arrested in November 2014 and due to answer bail the following January, but police dropped the investigation due to a lack of evidence.
A spokesperson for Essex Police told The Mirror: "There was not enough evidence to proceed with the case and bail has been dropped."
Moss was sentenced to five and a half years in 2012 for conspiracy to supply cocaine, and got together with Gemma when he was released on licence.
Then in February 2019 he was jailed for breaking his partner’s arm and threatening to kill her in a savage beating.
He admitted GBH and was sentenced to 21 months.
JJ Goodman, 2016
Gemma and bartender JJ Goodman took a shine to each other at the Cannes Lions festival in July 2016, and an excited Gemma even hoped he could be The One.
"He's a proper gentleman. Any man who can take treat me like a princess and then share a Club Sandwich with me is definitely 'The One' in my books," she gushed.
But sadly, it didn't come to much.
Laurence Hearn, 2018
Gemma got with car expert Laurence on Celebs Go Dating but harshly dumped him live on Loose Women after Arg asked her on a date.
"It's that old fashioned saying that you can't get a man then three men come along at once," she told the audience - which included Laurence.
"I was looking for love, I still am looking for love. But no offence - I really really adore Laurence but I've only known him five minutes," she said.
"I done the show because obviously me and Arg were very on and off at the time.
"Sorry Laurence. You really are an amazing man.
"If there's any single ladies out there that want to date Laurence...?"
Do you think Arg is the one for Gemma after all these years? Share your thoughts in the comments section below...
