James Argent has said he is sorry for how his relationship with ex-girlfriend Gemma Collins ended.
The former The Only Way Is Essex star, who is better known as Arg, parted ways with the GC last summer after an on-off romance which lasted eight years.
But not before the pair had a public bust up in which Arg allegedly called Gemma a ‘hippo’ during a row.
Just over a year on from their break-up, Arg admits he was in a dark place at the time and didn’t mean what he said.
The 33-year-old told The Sun : “Anything negative I’ve said about anyone I deeply regret and I apologise for.
“But that row was a long time ago and a lot of the time, when you say negative things about other people, you’re really saying it yourself. It’s self-hatred.”
Arg, who hasn’t publicly dated anyone since the split, said he was happy Gemma had moved on and wished her well.
The reality TV star is now back with her ex Rami Hawash, who she was once engaged to, and the couple hope to start a family together in the near future.
Gemma, 40, has even been playing step-mum to Rami’s three-year-old son Tristan recently after being introduced to him earlier this year in a sign her relationship is for keeps.
“I’m very pleased that she started dating Rami again because I’m actually quite fond of him,” Arg said. “He’s a nice guy.”
Although Arg is yet to start dating himself, he says his recent 11 stone weight loss has made women seem more keen on him.
But although he is getting lots of compliments from the opposite sex, he jokes the drawback of having a thinner face means his nose and ears now look bigger. “I can’t win.”
At his heaviest the singer tipped the scales at almost 27 stone after piling on the pounds when he kicked his cocaine and booze addiction.
He admits to eating his favourite meal of pie and mash – but instead of one pie, he’d have three. This was followed by a whole tub of ice cream.
Doctors warned him if he didn’t stop bingeing he could eat himself to death, so he paid £10,000 for a gastric sleeve operation – where part of his stomach was removed to reduce the amount of food it can hold.
After having 70 per cent of his stomach cut out, Arg can now only eat tiny portions of food. Fizzy drinks are banned and he can’t drink any liquid half an hour before or after eating.
In the seven months since he had the op, Arg has finally reached his target weight of 15 stone 7 pounds.
Now he’s looking forward to the future after getting his life back. “I’m ticking off a list every day and achieving things I’ve always wanted to do.”
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