New TOWIE Cast Defended By Co-Star James ‘Diags’ After Backlash: ‘In Light Of Recent Events, Get Some Positivity Out There’

18 March 2019, 12:11

Diags asked viewers to 'be positive' about the new TOWIE cast members. Picture: Kelsey Stratford/Instagram / Diags/Instagram

TOWIE returned to ITVBe last night with a whopping eight new cast members, and some viewers weren’t so happy about the new faces.

The Only Way Is Essex looked like a brand new series when it returned to TV screens on Sunday night, with eight new cast members to give the series new storylines and more drama.

Many of the new additions are around 18 years old, and committed viewers of the Essex-based show weren’t so happy about the changes, with many slamming the teenage cast.

QUIZ: Match The Classic Quote To The TOWIE Cast Member

But long-term member of the programme James ‘Diags’ Bennewith, who has starred on the show since 2012, made sure to defend the newbies, urging fans to “be positive” about the changes.

Diags defended the new TOWIE cast members. Picture: James Diags/Twitter

He wrote to his 798k followers: “Good luck to all the new TOWIE lot… Understand people gonna have opinions but maybe in light of recent events keep the negative s**t to urself & get some positivity out there. [sic]

“Rather than being a hypocrite and then when it’s all too late and someone’s gone too far, saying ‘sorry’.”

Joey Turner is just one of the new TOWIE cast members. Picture: Joey Turner/Instagram

Diags’ tweet came after the news of Love Island star Mike Thalassitis’ death, whose loss has sparked questions about the need for support from the creators of such reality TV shows.

His message was met with a mixed reaction from fans of the ITVBe series, with one person writing: “I think this also needs to be directed at the producers of the show who are promoting men calling women slags and women throwing drinks over men. Where's the positivity in that?

“The problem with reality TV is these kids aren’t trained actors and just want to be ‘famous’ which in itself is not all it is made out to be. Too much pressure to be ‘perfect’ which is so fake not reality,” replied another.

However, one viewer reminded everyone: “The new cast always get the cold shoulder, this time next year they will have settled in and it will be other newbies getting stick.”

Chloe Sims also showed her support for the new cast, tweeting: "TOWIE ... loving the new style! @ITVBe."

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