Bumping into an ex is never easy, especially when they are with a pretty female companion, but Lucy Mecklenburgh seemed unfazed as she headed for a TOWIE party in Marbella this week. The striking brunette, who recently attended the Cannes Film Festival, looked glamorous in a one-shouldered gown as she arrived for an all-white celebration on the last day of filming for the reality series.
All the cast of The Only Way Is Essex had gathered at the Sisu Boutique Hotel for the party — including Lucy's ex fiancé Mario Falcone, who brought along a mystery brunette. The encounter comes in the same week that Lucy, 21, shared her heartache after discovering Mario, 26, is dating a 16-year-old friend of her little sister, and how that revelation made her realise breaking up with him was the right decision. It's not known if the girl pictured with Mario in Marbella is his new love interest. "It's true. It's my little sister's best friend," she told new! magazine. "It made me feel sick. And the fact that the girl has been round my house and is my sister's best mate. "And what hurt me the most is that my sister got upset telling me, because she didn't want to hurt my feelings. The fact he was taking a 16-year-old on dates reassured me I'd made the right decision. "It was initially thought that Lucy had ended the relationship after growing tired of the constant cheating allegations surrounding her fiancé, but now she has hinted there was more to their split.
"It's complicated," she said. "Yes, there had been rumours that he'd cheated on me, but that's not why I ended it. Something really horrible happened, nothing to do with any cheating allegations. I made the decision there and then and moved out… I don't want to say any more than that. "We did argue. Living together at a young age… I wouldn't do it again. You're on top of each other and it's going to cause arguments. We worked together, lived together. It was a recipe for disaster. "After the stress of the break-up, Lucy said the weight did start to "drop off", but now she is committed to a new healthy lifestyle and has become "addicted" to working out with her personal trainer Cecilia Harris. "I'm addicted to it now — I can't imagine not training. I've always gone from about 8 1/2 stone to 9st, but I have lost a bit — nearly a stone. I think I weigh just over 8st now — 8st 2lbs, 8st 3lbs, something like that. I was about 9st 2lbs before. I wear a dress size 6-8 now and I'm 5ft 6in."
Not that Lucy doesn't occasionally treat herself. The star, who cites Kelly Brook and Myleene Klass as her body idols, said, "I think you still have to enjoy yourself. If you want to eat a chocolate croissant, eat one, If you want to have a big bowl of pasta, do it. "What I try to do is just be naughty at weekends. Try and restrict yourself in the week and then a the weekend — don't go out and eat two McDonalds — but let go a little bit."