Relationships Talk

LIFE coach, television presenter and author Anna Williamson, 37 has replaced Nadia Essex on E4’s reality show Celebs Go Dating.

Anna exclusively tells The Sun Online that she’s already filming the show and is expecting drama between feuding exes Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks, who have both joined the agency this series.

Pete and Megan were known for their bickering whilst in a relationship on TOWIE

“They’re both looking for new love. It’s Megan and Pete, so who knows what is going to go down!” says Anna.

“They have an enormous past between the two of them, so will sparks fly? Who knows?”

Megan, 26 and Pete, 30 were known for their explosive on-off relationship had a bitter split on camera whilst filming for TOWIE back in 2017.

And Anna says TOWIE star Pete was the celebrity that intrigued her the most before she started filming.

Anna says that everyone has been overwhelmingly welcoming

“I’m still trying to figure him out, I think we need to do a lot of work with Pete, but I am very hopeful that we can perhaps direct him in a different direction.”

The E4 show’s line-up was announced earlier this month and also include MIC star Sam Thompson, 26, Kerry Katona, 38, David Potts, 25, Georgia Steel, 20 and Chelsee Healey, 30.

And Anna told the Sun Online that the stars have, surprisingly, been hit with nerves.

“Let’s just say that it has been surprising how high the nerves have been,” she says.

The Celebs Go Dating line-up includes a mix of reality TV show stars

“I think our line-up is quite known for being quite out there, quite confident, but I think viewers are going to be quite surprised by how much the nerve bug has bitten our celebrities.”

After recently being found using a dating app whilst filming, the new love guru wants to see what she can do with Sam,  and has said that they need to work on their ‘little Sam’s’ self-confidence.

“Sam has come on the show before and shows real bravery and balls for the fact that he wants to give it another try.”

Anna is confident they are going to get twice divorced Kerry, who is “one of the most exciting clients”, in a positive place, “not only with herself, but also her relationship status going forward.”

David, who is most known for his role on the Weekender series on ITV, is a huge character, but Anna believes that the nature of his job “shouldn’t be an obstacle” for finding love.

She told The Sun Online “It’s just working with David to get romance to work with his work life.”

Anna wants to “shake off this loyal tag” that has been attached to Georgia after her appearance on Love Island earlier this year. Anna and Georgia actually know each other after meeting years ago whilst filming for Nickelodeon and Anna is looking forward to changing the direction in the way that Georgia finds love.

“I’m really hoping that she is going to take on board Paul’s and mines advice, and that we find her somebody that she can really enjoy being with.”

Actress Chelsee, who is best known for her roles on Waterloo Road and Hollyoaks “is a wonderful girl, who is a busy mum, and she works, and has as much opportunity to find love as anybody else.” Anna believes that we shouldn’t be defined by our children or our break-ups.

When asked about Olivia Attwood’s boozy antics from the previous series, which resulted in un-lady like behaviour such as belching at the dinner table, downing drinks and forcing her date to strip down to his trousers, Anna says she hasn’t banned booze.

E4/Celebs go dating

Olivia wasn’t afraid to let loose whilst on her dates

“I wouldn’t ban anyone from doing anything, I would advise, and on a case by case basis, look and see if necking the booze was in any way causing an issue or obstacle for their dating experience,” she says.

“If I felt it was appropriate to perhaps, tame the boozing, I wouldn’t be afraid in telling them that’s how I felt.”

She went on to say how she would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in the dating agency when Love Island’s Muggy Mike was on the show, as well as TOWIE star Gemma Collins.

“They would have been quite fun to have handled, but this series is shaping up to be a really stellar line up as well.”

Anna will be replacing Nadia Essex, who previously told the Sun Online that she felt suicidal after being exposed as a Twitter troll, which then resulted in her leaving the show half way through the series.

“It’s never an easy thing to come into an existing show, particularly one where I am hugely respectful and an enormous fan.”

Anna has high praises for Nadia and said “I think that Nadia is incredible. I am and have been one of the viewers that have been an enormous fan of hers.

“So coming into a show where it is well established, and someone is so well liked, is always going to be a tough place to start from. However, I come at it with fresh eyes, fresh credentials, fresh enthusiasm, and I’m really hoping that viewers will get behind me and like what I bring to the show.”

It was right fit, right show for Anna joining the cast

After the nation saw Olivia Attwood and Sam Craske get together on the latest series of Celebs Go Dating, anything can happen on the show.

“It is not anything we promote, or that we actively encourage, but you know what love is love, lust is lust, if it happens we will navigate as it comes to us.”

Celebs Go Dating airs in February 2019.

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While most of us may be knee-deep in the glorious cesspool that is Tinder and other dating apps, some folks are going above and beyond to find a companion they can spend the rest of their lives with until they clock out. One of those people according to a report? Jennifer Aniston.

It will soon be a year since Jennifer and Justin Theroux officially divorced, but that won’t stop Jennifer from looking elsewhere for love. While Justin has been linked to many ladies, there hasn’t been many dating rumors on Jen’s side of things. Well, that apparently is about to change. A source tells Grazia that Jennifer has reached out to LA dating coach Julie Fernman in hopes of reeling in a man who is completely okay dealing with an attractive, super wealthy, and famous woman. “A friend suggested she seek the advice of a professional to help her in the dating game,” an LA source says, adding, “after her split from Justin she vowed to remain single, but now she hoping that with Julie’s help, she ‘ll be able to move forward.”

Getty Images

Another LA source adds, “As well as seeking professional advice, Jen is relying on her friends to set her up on dates.” As far as what Julie offers, well she was more than happy to tell the outlet exactly what a paying customer will get. “My programs range in price but my top program for VIP clients costs $10,000, where we work together closely for six months,” Julie says. “It includes coaching, guidance and personal introductions with the end goal resulting in my client meeting their perfect match. Right now, I’ve had 1,202 clients who have met the one. I’ve worked with many high-profile people who come to me because they’re so well-known and can’t put themselves out there online.”

So if you have $10,000 lying around and you’re super lonely, Julie can help you too! But even if Jennifer can’t reel herself in a lover, she is still reportedly setting up a holiday getaway with all her pals. So at least we all can take solace in that.

Last year, Americans spent $12 billion on online dating. And Match Group, which owns Tinder, Match.com, Hinge, OkCupid and several other dating apps, accounts for one-third of that pie. But the woman who runs this giant dating platform empire, Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg, doesn’t think she’s qualified to give relationship advice.

“I’m the worst person to give dating advice. I’ve been married twice. The second time, I got a lot smarter, but still,” Ginsberg said jokingly on stage Monday at Business Insider’s IGNITION 2018 in New York.

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That said, Ginsberg, who has worked on the forefront of online dating for over a decade, does have some true insight on what the millions of single people on dating apps might be missing.

“What we’ve found on a lot of our platforms is that what people want and what people say they want are two different things,” she said. “For example, people would say in their profile, ‘I want somebody six-foot-tall and Jewish,’ but all of a sudden you start dating [someone completely different]. People often end up breaking their own criteria.”

And, believe it or not, that rule has applied to Ginsberg’s personal life as well.

“I was actually married to a 6’2” Jewish guy the first time around, but then I ended up with a very cute, short Indian guy,” Ginsberg said with a laugh. “Sometimes you’d look at people in the real world and wonder, ‘that’s such an interesting couple. They clearly have chemistry, but I wouldn’t have seen them together.’ That happens on dating apps as well.”

“So, the holy grail for us is how do we figure out a way to give people a much better indication of chemistry?” she added. 

Ginsberg took charge of Match Group in January, replacing former CEO Greg Blatt, who was ousted in July 2017 amid sexual harassment allegations. Before that, Ginsberg had served as the CEO of Match.com for seven years and led Match Group’s North America business.

Currently, the various dating apps under Match Group have a combined subscriber base of over 10 million.

And if there was ever one piece of universal advice on dating, that would be to “stay open-minded” and be patient, Ginsberg said. “Half of the single people in America today are on these dating apps, so it’s a matter of finding the right chemistry and the person out there.”

Actress Jennifer Aniston has been falsely linked to a number of celebrities after her split with actor Justin Theroux. One of the latest reports claimed the actress had hired a dating coach to help spark her love life back again – a rumor that was debunked.

The rumor was concocted by a magazine called Grazia, which published an article titled “Swipe Right For Jen.” In the article an anonymous insider claimed to have insight about the actress’ personal life, suggesting that she was ready to dive back into the dating pool after choosing to stay single for a while.

“A friend suggested she seek the advice of a professional to help her in the dating game. After her split from Justin [Theroux] she vowed to remain single, but now she’s hoping that she’ll be able to move forward,” the questionable tipster told the tabloid.

However, added the unnamed source, the so-called dating coach was not the only individual that the “Horrible Bosses” actress trusted to get her love life back on track. “As well as seeking professional advice, Jen is relying on her friends to set her up on dates,” the tipster added.

Jennifer Aniston attends the 2018 InStyle Awards at The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, Oct. 22, 2018. Photo: Getty Images/ Rich Fury

The publication also did not hold back from creating a fictional profile for Aniston, in case the actress decided to join a dating app in the future. Listing some of the qualities that Aniston might be looking for in a potential match, the outlet added the actress was “looking for someone who loves chilling” including romantic comedies and classic shows such as “Friends,” which made her a star.  However, men who don’t watch romcoms are a deal breaker for her, claimed the magazine, adding, “don’t bother if you’re an East Coast type, want to break into acting [and] don’t like rom-coms.”

According to Gossip Cop, the entire premise of the article is flawed as Aniston has repeated time and again that she was perfectly happy being single. She opened up about how tired she was to be painted in a negative light by celebrity gossip magazines after her divorce from Theroux back in February.

“It’s pretty crazy,” she said in an interview for InStyle’s September issue. “The misconceptions are ‘Jen can’t keep a man,’ and ‘Jen refuses to have a baby because she’s selfish and committed to her career.’ Or that I’m sad and heartbroken. First, with all due respect, I’m not heartbroken. And second, those are reckless assumptions. No one knows what’s going on behind closed doors. No one considers how sensitive that might be for my partner and me. They don’t know what I’ve been through medically or emotionally.”

Regardless, an increasing number of unreliable publications continue to romantically link her to celebrities like Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and most recently, Johnny Depp.