‘It's hard to stay single'

TOWIE star Yazmin Oukhellou opens up about returning to the reality show and run-ins with her ex-boyfriend

- BOBBY NORRIS

When Yazmin Oukhellou made the decision to step away from TOWIE earlier this year after moving to Dubai, I was so sad to see her go. The 27-year-old had originally gone over to the Middle East with her ex-boyfriend, James Lock, 34, but made the decision to stay there after they broke up.

Yaz tells me she needed to stay away from Essex in order to “find herself” after splitting up with Lockie. “I knew in my heart that if I’d come back I would have got back with him,” she admits, as we catch up over the phone.

Fast-forward a few months and Yaz made a surprise cameo on TOWIE to confront former pal Chloe Brockett over her fling with Lockie.

Here, we get all the goss on what actually went on with their separation and what Yaz’s plans are for her TOWIE return…

Hi Yaz! You broke up with James while in Dubai at the start of the year. What happened there?

I wasn’t happy for a little while. At the point I was in my life, I was really ready to settle, whereas he was being the party boy. He liked to have me there but he also liked to live this single life and I’d had enough.

At what point in your trip to Dubai did you realise it wasn’t working?

I think it was Christmas Day. We’d gone out for dinner and had a row and then he went missing until the next day. On Boxing Day, he strolled in at 10 in the morning and I just thought, “This life ain’t for me”. We broke up at the beginning of January.

Why did you stay out there on your own?