The Only Way Is Essex returned to ITVBe on Sunday night (August 21) for its 29th series. The hit reality TV show, which first aired back in 2010, brought back some TOWIE favourites alongside some new faces for its latest series.
The first episode saw the reality stars in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, where Yazmin Oukhellou was filmed alongside her co-stars. The 28-year-old spoke about her previous relationships in scenes filmed just weeks before she was severely injured in a fatal crash that killed her ex-boyfriend Jake McLean.
Yazmin said doctors told her she was 'lucky to be alive' after the horror collision where the car plunged 70 foot off a cliff. The TV star had to 'snap her arm' to free herself and get help after seeing her former partner unconscious.
READ MORE:
Yaz had spontaneously flown to Turkey to reconcile with her on-off boyfriend. She had nodded off in the car after partying with friends in Bodrum and woke to find the Mercedes plunging off a cliff.
Yazmin told the Sun: “We were just tumbling for what seemed like forever. It felt like I was going round in a washing machine, just round and round.
“Then eventually it stopped and my right arm was jammed. The car was upside down. It had an open sunroof and my right arm was just stuck behind my back and under the folded back of the car roof."
The reality star revealed she had severed an artery in her arm during the crash but trough 'adrenaline and panic' she managed to snap her arm so that she could go and reach help.
She said: “I could just felt my arm absolutely covered in blood. It was like I was lying in a hot bath, there was so much around me. At the same time I was trying to wake up Jake. I didn’t want to admit it to myself that he could be dead.
“So I thought ‘right, I can either lay still and bleed to death, or snap my own arm to try to save us, I had no choice. So I somehow snapped my arm through pure adrenaline and panic.
"I climbed out of the car, and I was kind of holding my arm together with my left hand. I ran up to the top of the bank, I was screaming for help and then all of a sudden I saw a flashlight.”
A dog walker came to her aid and the man took off his top and wrapped it around her arm. "I climbed back down and tried to check his pulse but I couldn’t feel anything and then the ambulance came," she recalled.
“They were helping me. I was like 'please can you just help him’ and they were like 'we just need to take him to another hospital.' I think they knew, but for me even now I still feel like it’s not real. I still feel like I’m just waiting to wake up from a nightmare and it’s just something that never happens."
In scenes that aired in TOWIE on Monday night, Yazmin told her friends: "I've gone through my breakups, I've had my heartbreak and now I just feel like the best version I've ever felt of myself."
Yazmin then spoke about her previous relationship with co-star James Lock, who shared a turbulent relationship over four years.
The pair finally called it quits in 2021 but there were rumours that the couple were growing closer again earlier this year.
With James, also known as Lockie, also in the Dominican Republic filming the series, Yaz said: "We've come here and we're friends. I never thought I'd see the day. We genuinely have each others best interests at heart. I love how things are."
But viewers were heartbroken to see Yazmin 'so happy' in the series, knowing the fatal crash that awaited her a few weeks later.
Taking to Twitter @NicNicScott82 said: "Caught up on latest #TOWIE ….my thoughts….heart breaks from Yaz knowing what she has around the corner."
@kvmxxxx added: "Feel a bit uneasy watching Yaz knowing weeks after this was filmed she nearly died."
A third viewer @jesscheadle wrote: "Awh i just know Lockie would of been so worried about Yaz after her accident seeing how friendly they are."
READ NEXT:
Adam Collard sets record straight on why he re-entered Love Island villa
ITV Love Island's Gemma Owen signs 'six-figure' deal with PrettyLittleThing
Coleen Rooney hits back at accusations as she stuns in sizzling red dress
BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2022 start date revealed as former star AJ Odudu spills details
Hollyoaks' Stephanie Davis praised as she slams 'fake Instagram bodies'
