Sam Faiers and Joey Essex have been in contact since her diagnosis of Crohn's Disease last week.
The 23-year-old beauty learned she had the inflammatory bowel disease last week and she has revealed the one "lovely effect" of the illness is that it has helped get her back on speaking terms with her former partner.
She told Now magazine: "That's actually been a lovely effect of all the bad things that have happened. Joey and I haven't spoken or seen each other for months - the last time I saw him was at Lewis [Bloor]'s birthday last November.
"He sent me a text saying he was worried about me. I texted him back, and I'm just glad there's been that contact because he was such a big part of my life and it's nice we can be friends again."
Joey hasn't been the only one who has been worried about 'The Only Way is Essex' star as Sam's mother Suzanne and sister Billie have been in "bits".
Sam added: "My mum was so worried and Billie kept crying. When I was diagnosed, she was sobbing. I've been the one saying, 'It'll be OK.' They've cried much more than me. I think I've stayed strong because I hate them being so upset. It's been hard for them to see me so thin."
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