TOWIE INTERVIEWS
JUNAID:
Junaid Ahmed on reuniting with his estranged family, turning over a new leaf with the help of Lauren Goodger, and building bridges with Amber Turner...
TOWIE star Junaid Ahmed is the self-confessed “bitch with the heart of gold” who never strays far from the drama. However, as he approaches his 30th birthday, Junaid, 29, says he’s determined to enter a new “Soft Girl” era, and says his long-time BFF, original cast member Lauren Goodger, has been sharing her words of wisdom with him.
Junaid, 29, says, “She is one of my best friends. We’ve been friends for years. She brings out the side of me that’s the real me.” And following a fallout with Harry Derbidge, Junaid says Lauren – who’s returned to the show after 11 years – played peacemaker.
He adds, “Back in Essex, Lauren was the mediator. She sat in the middle and said, ‘You’re being stupid and this is silly’. We listened to LG.”
But while Lauren, who was previously plagued with drama as a result of her tumultuous romance with Mark Wright, has transformed from the show’s heartbreak queen to its new matriarch, Junaid admits he still has to prove himself.
“People need to see the new side to me,” he tells us. “I have always been very vocal, honest and the ‘big, bad bitch’, and my slogan is, ‘The bitch with the heart of gold’, but I’ve elevated my life according to what is important to me.”
And while we could barely keep up with the drama of the last series, which saw Junaid and BFF Dani Imbert fall out with Ella Rae Wise, with Ella making several digs about loyalty and being fed “poison” (not literally, of course), Junaid says the trio have
