Sam Thompson and Zara McDermott ‘living separate lives for a year’ ahead of ‘split’

Reports surfaced that they’d broken up on New Year’s Day

Sam Thompson and Zara McDermott’s reported split was “coming for a while” amid claims the pair were living separate lives for a year ahead of their ‘break-up’.

Reports that Sam and Zara had called time on their five-year relationship surfaced on New Year’s Day. So far neither has addressed the split reports.

However, a friend of the couple has now alleged that the writing was on the wall for the couple after they started spending “increasing time apart”.

Zara McDermott and Sam Thompson walking down the street
Zara and Sam were together for five years ahead of their reported split (Credit: Splash News)

Sam Thompson and Zara McDermott’s romance ‘proved impossible’

With Sam busy in Australia on I’m A Celebrity spin-off Unpacked, and Zara busy working on her documentaries in the UK, it appears their romance took a back seat.

So much so that pals claim they had been “living separate lives” since Sam won the jungle series at the end of 2023.

Ever since Sam won the jungle, they’ve more or less been living separate lives.

The pal claimed they couple “had problems” last summer. However, they “vowed to give it one more try”. They had previously split briefly in 2020, after Zara admitted to cheating on Sam.

“Although they have known it’s been over for a while, Sam and Zara are both devastated and heartbroken they couldn’t make it work. When they had problems in the summer they vowed to give it one more try and hoped that they could work through their issues, but it proved impossible as they were just at different stages in their lives,” the pal told OK!.

Zara McDermott against a pink background straight faced
Zara cheated on Sam back in 2019 but the pair got back together (Credit: Splash News)

‘Living separate lives’

The source then went on to claim: “Ever since Sam won the jungle, they’ve more or less been living separate lives. Sam has been so in demand and Zara has been working on lots of projects. Sam, especially, feels like he can’t turn down anything at the moment so has been prioritising his career. And Zara is also career focused.”

Sam Thompson looking glum getting into a car
Sam Thompson is yet to comment on the ‘split’ from Zara (Credit: Splash News)

‘Just a matter of time’

Now, as the couple navigate the future, the pal claims Zara will struggle post-split. They’ve cited it’ll be “hard” given that she’s so close to Sam’s family.

“There are so many friends and family involved. They were neighbours with Sam’s sister Louise. They would see her little boy Leo all the time. It’s going to be hard for Zara to walk away from his family. But their friends and family have known it’s been coming for a while and it was just a matter of time.”

ED! has contacted reps for Sam and Zara for comment.