Zara McDermott recently delighted fans by posting a sweet birthday selfie with her boyfriend, Louis Tomlinson. This came shortly after Sam Thompson made his relationship with Talitha Balinska Instagram official, confirming their romance earlier in the month.

Known for his role in Made In Chelsea, 33-year-old Sam Thompson publicly unveiled his new relationship at the beginning of December, seemingly throwing subtle shade at his former partner.

Sam has been dating prominent London DJ Talitha, 25, for several months, after being introduced by his friend and business partner, Reza Amiri-Garroussi. The couple decided to take their relationship to the next level, making it official.

On Saturday night, Sam took to Instagram to share a joyous photo with Talitha, captured during a cozy dinner date in London. The pair looked radiant as they posed together.

Meanwhile, Zara was gearing up for her 29th birthday celebrations alongside her new beau, former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson. Shortly after Sam’s post, Zara shared a heartwarming photo with Louis, both of them smiling and clearly enjoying each other’s company.

The Love-Island star-turned-documentary-maker moved on with the musician after a string of dates in March, and their relationship has been going from strength-to-strength since they confirmed they were officially an item back in August. 

Zara McDermott has shared a loved-up birthday selfie with her boyfriend Louis Tomlinson just hours after Sam Thompson finally went Instagram official with his new girlfriend 

Sam confirmed his romance with Talitha Balinska at the start of December and on Saturday night he shared a new photo to his Instagram, beaming beside the DJ

It appears Louis, 33, has whisked the bombshell away for some quality time as she rings in her birthday. 

Sharing a loved up snap of the two of them, she wrote: ‘The best birthday ever with you ❤️✨ & the final year of my 20’s!!’

Earlier, alongside a photo of a sparkly Christmas tree, she shared: ‘The most perfect weekend getaway for my birthday. Can’t believe I’m going to be 29 tomorrow!’ 

Zara and Sam dated for around five years – with the pair going official in May 2019 and later splitting in December 2024.

While Sam was in a relationship with Zara, 28, at the time, he recently reconnected with Talitha after she was invited as a surprise guest to his live show at the O2 Arena and, as one source told the Daily Mail, ‘the rest is history’. 

And speaking to best pal Pete Wicks on an episode of their Staying Relevant podcast, the TV personality revealed he was officially off the market once again.

He excitedly declared: ‘I’ve got a girlfriend. I’ve got a girlfriend!’ as Pete quipped: ‘We’ve lost him again to the dark powers of a woman.’ 

When probed about the details of the moment he asked Talitha the important question, Sam insisted: ‘Mate, it was just super relaxed. It was so boring really, but that’s kind of how I wanted it to be.

Alongside a photo of a sparkly Christmas tree, Zara had written on Saturday night: ‘The most perfect weekend getaway for my birthday. Can’t believe I’m going to be 29 tomorrow!’ 

‘We just went for dinner and I was like, “I really like you”. And I just went “I’d love to be your boyfriend”. I don’t know why I’m panicking more now!’

He went on: ‘Yeah, I just said, “Look, I really, really like you and you make me feel really… comfortable. I feel like I can be myself around you. I don’t want to be dating anyone else. I’m 33, I wouldn’t be dating someone this amount of time if I didn’t think it had legs to last. So will you be my girlfriend?” And she said “yes”. And so I said, “great.”‘

Pete was quick to congratulate his pal and point out how far he’d come in a year, after last Christmas marked the breakdown of Sam’s five-year romance with Zara.

He said: ‘Listen we’re all very proud of you and we’re pleased that the year has taken a full circle’, as Sam echoed: ‘Christmas is back on! I’m happy.’

And in a sign of how well their relationship is blossoming already, Sam showed how close Talitha has already become with his family, as he revealed he was planning on taking her skiing with his sister Louise Thompson and her fiancé Ryan Libbey in the New Year.

Made In Chelsea star Louise, 35, appeared to give her seal of approval to her brother’s new girlfriend in October, as she shared a snap of Talitha and Sam roasting marshmallows with her and her son Leo, four.

But when Pete asked if he had any plans to go Instagram official with Talitha, Sam let slip a slight dig at his ex-girlfriend, saying: ‘I don’t think there’s any need for it.’

Sam, 33,  recently confirmed that he had finally made model Talitha, 25, his girlfriend after a few months of dating, detailing the moment he asked her to take things to the next level

Zara and Sam dated for around five years – with the pair going official in May 2019 and later splitting in December 2024 

As Pete clarified: ‘I just want to confirm that there won’t be a picture of the cats, you and Peep [Talitha] in Christmas pyjamas in Santa’s grotto?’

Sam and Zara frequently shared Instagram content together throughout their relationship, and one Christmas donned matching festive pyjamas and posed with their pet cats, Albus and Cedric, in front of the tree.

However, Sam was quick to insist to Pete that he had no intentions of doing the same with Talitha, saying: ‘I’ve done that before and I want to do a complete opposite of that this time…’