Birth name Samantha Elizabeth Faiers

Birthday 31 December 1990

Star sign Capricorn

Birthplace Havering, London

Sam Faiers was born to parents Suzanne ‘Sue’ Wells and Lee Faiers on New Year’s Eve 1990. She has an older sister called Billie.

When Sam was very young, Lee was a millionaire thanks to his job as a market trader and the family lived on an 18-acre farm in Upminster, Essex.

However, he developed a serious drug and alcohol problem after suffering money issues and Sue moved out with her two daughters.

Sue later married a man named David Chatwood. In 2012, David was jailed for four years for his part in a £1.1 million bullion robbery. Sam supported her stepfather in court.

David was let out early in May 2013 as he’d already served time on remand.

Growing up, Sam attended Shenfield High School. She trained with the UK’s Olympic gymnastic team for five years but quit when she broke her arm twice and ‘discovered boys’.

At 16, Sam left school. She worked at Lloyds TSB before going part-time to try glamour modelling.

Sam rose to fame when she joined ITV reality show The Only Way Is Essex in 2010, also known as TOWIE. She appeared from the first episode and her sister Billie joined soon after.

In the programme’s early days, Sam Faiers was linked to co-star Mark Wright. However, she fell for Joey Essex in the second series.

The couple split off-screen but later reunited and viewers saw Joey propose in 2013. Unfortunately for the lovebirds, they ended things again that summer.

In 2011, both Sam and Billie were attacked by a gang of girls after partying at a London nightclub. Sam suffered two black eyes, a split nose, bruises and scratches down her back.

Sam Faiers entered Celebrity Big Brother as a contestant in January 2014. Popular with the public, she reached the final but ended up in 5th place.

While in the house, Sam became ill and later revealed that she ‘couldn’t keep food down’. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in February 2014, an inflammation of the gut.

Sam went on a break from TOWIE a month later and rekindled her relationship with Joey Essex. They separated for a third time that September.

Aside from her television career, Sam runs clothing store Minnies Boutique in Brentwood, Essex with Billie. She signed to model agency Elite in April 2014.

Sam suffers from trichotillomania, which causes her to compulsively pull her eyelashes out.