Last night’s episode of Made In Chelsea sawLiv Bentley and Nicole Berry confront Liv’s ex Tristan Phipps, who’s been sleeping with both of them at the same time - and lying about it. After Nicole agreed to meet Tristan for a drink, the two women agreed that Liv would show up unannounced so that the pair could call him out on his behaviour, with nowhere to run.
And call him out they did. In fact, the confrontation concluded with Liv chucking a piece of jewellery back at her ex and delivering possibly the most Chelsea mic drop we’ve ever heard on MIC, ‘I want a man who buys me diamonds, not silver.’ Don’t we all, eh?
While Liv managed to robustly defend herself in the moment, when her adrenaline levels had died down the next day, the 26-year-old reality star became emotional while recounting the story to pals Sam Thompson and Tiffany Watson over lunch.
Like any good friend would, both Sam and Tiff both reminded Liv that she deserved better. But Liv choked back tears as she explained how tough she was finding it to move on, and how difficult it was to see all her best mates coupled up and moving forward with their lives.
‘It’s really hard, I know you’re moving out to live with your boyfriend, and you live with Zara,’ she told Tiff and Sam, visibly emotional. ‘It upsets me being around all these happy people all the time and I don’t understand why I can’t be happy.’
Most of us love to see our friends reach life milestones - whether that’s getting a promotion, buying a house, getting married or bagging a second date. But when all your friends appear to be going in one direction, while you’re struggling to disentangle from a toxic ex, the discord can end up feeling both isolating and infantilising.
While finding a partner is an important goal for many people, it’s by no means the most important one, and nor is it something everyone wants. Group members like Liv should never be made to feel lacking or unwelcome. Or, perhaps even worse, be expected to mine their dating disasters in demand to entertain their coupled friends.
Let’s be honest, most of us will swing between the single and coupled camps at various points throughout our lives, and having empathy for each other’s circumstances is what helps life’s dramas feel bearable.