Former TOWIE star James Argent has revealed he has put his love life on the backburner in order to focus on drug addiction recovery.
Arg, as he is affectionally known, has confessed that although he secretly dated a woman from his gym on Valentine's Day, the relationship hasn't progressed any further.
The 34-year old said the reason was partly down to the fact he doesn't feel ready for anything serious as he commits to keeping sober and healthy following well-publicised lengthy battles with drug addiction and binge eating.
Speaking to the MailOnline, he said: "It could be detrimental to myself. I may have the odd date, kiss or a cuddle but in terms of a serious relationship, I think that might be a bit further down the line."
Having lost an incredible 11 stone in less than a year after having a gastric sleeve fitted, Arg added that his focus is now on maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
"I think I've had to learn a very tough and hard lesson, sometimes when you're clean sober for a long period of time, you get this stinking thinking where you think you don't need to go to meetings anymore.
"You can also start to forget how bad things were in the past and you can even tell yourself, 'Oh this time it might be different, I can have a few drinks, I can manage it this time, I can control it this time,' but when you're an addict you can't."
Throughout his career Arg has famously been linked to TOWIE co-star Gemma Collins, but their on-off relationship - which commenced in 2012 - subsequently ended in 2020.
The TV personality has previously been the subject of another high-profile connection, when he dated another co-star, Lydia Bright, but the pair are now just close friends.
He revealed that he does hope to see a lady by his side in the future, however, declaring that he would love a 'lovely woman to join him in Woodford Green' one day, 'potentially having children' together.
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