TV star Sam Thompson sparked rumours that he had a new girlfriend as he appeared to ‘hard launch’ his relationship on his Instagram earlier this month, and now he has spoken about it.
Sam has been very open about how 2025 has been a difficult year for him. At the very start of the year, it was revealed he and long-term partner, Zara McDermott, had split. And it wasn’t long before she was embarking on a new romance with One Direction star Louis Tomlinson.
Things seem to have changed changed, as over the last few months, Sam has been speaking about how he is now on the other side of his tough times. And he has also showcased his amazing glow-up.
Now, after a lot of speculation about whether Sam is dating model and DJ, Talitha Balinska, he has finally addressed his “hard launch”.
So, let’s have a look at everything that we know.
Who is Sam Thompson’s new ‘girlfriend’?
Over the last few weeks, Sam and Talitha have been seen stepping out for dinners and a day out.
According to reports, London-based Talitha is currently 24 years old, turning 25 in just a few weeks.
It’s believed she is a music producer and digital creator who rose to fame on TikTok, gaining over 500K followers.
But the influencer also works as a model, with reports suggesting she has done campaigns with ASOS and Sam’s own sunglasses brand Dinelli Eyewear – which is where they are believed to have met.
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Sam Thompson breaks silence on relationship ‘hard launch’
Last week, Sam posted an ad on his Instagram, which featured himself and his sister Louise. But fans were shocked to see another face at the video towards the end, wearing a wizard’s hat. And many speculated that it must be his new girlfriend.
On this week’s episode of Staying Relevant podcast, – which Sam co-hosts with best pal Pete Wicks – the pair joked about the “hard launch”.
Sam wouldn’t admit whether or not they are in a relationship. But it comes after he began referring to a mystery woman as “Peep” on the podcast.
Pete started the conversation by teasing: “Peep has made it to the ad section of Instagram with the hard launch.”
But Sam was quick to tell him: “It was not a hard launch.” However, Pete completely disagreed: “Couldn’t be [bleep]ing harder. Nothing says hard launch like Peep playing Lego. As hard launches go, full-frontal face, with wizard hat, playing Lego. How did it feel to officially hard launch?”
However, Sam refused to budge, adamant that wasn’t a hard launch. He told Pete: “It wasn’t a hard launch.”
Sam went on to explain how it came about. He told Pete: “Bless her. I literally was just filming this thing and I was like: ‘I need an ending for this.’ And I just, she was there and I went: ‘Do you fancy just doing it?’ I didn’t think about it.
“I knew that maybe people would like. But I just thought it was a funny end to a video with a really clearly gorgeous girl. I think she’s great.”
But when Pete asked if she will be making any other appearances on his Instagram anytime soon, Sam told him: “No.”
Talitha has already met Sam’s family
In the video on Sam’s Instagram, Talitha wasn’t the only one to feature in it. Louise, Sam’s older sister, also made an appearance.
When Sam and Pete were discussing why Pete hasn’t met her yet, Pete listed a bunch of people she had already met – including Sam’s family and their team.
He said: “Pippa has already met Peep. As has Ted. As has your sister, as has her partner, Ryan. That’s it.”
Why Sam is ‘terrified’ to introduce any girlfriend to Pete
Discussing what “next steps” are, Sam admitted he would be “[bleep]ing terrified” to introduce her to Pete.
He said: “If I ever got to the stage where I was going to introduce you. I would be [bleep]ing terrified.”
Pete was clearly thrown off, asking Sam: “Sorry, there are stages of what?”
Sam explained: “Introductions. If I ever had – and this is a hypothetical. I’m just saying, hypothetically, if I were to ever have a person of interest, my POI, then I would be so terrified to introduce her to you.”
As for why that is, Sam admitted: “It’s because you mean the most to me. If you didn’t like someone I was dating, I genuinely don’t think I would be able to do.”
But Pete didn’t agree with this: “It wouldn’t matter in the slightest whether I liked them. As long as you were happy.”
When Sam tried to argue with that, Pete told him: “It’s kind of irrelevant unless you move in with them or it becomes something else. It doesn’t really matter. Just go and enjoy yourself. As long as you are happy.”
Sam is ‘really enjoying’ himself
Sam admitted: “I’m really enjoying myself. Do you think that is a hard launch?” he asked the team.
Sam and Pete’s podcast team could then be heard behind the camera, saying: “Yes. Yes.”
Sam responded: “Well, I am happy. I love being happy. It’s nice.”
He went on to refer to Talitha as a “very sweet girl” but remained adamant there was “no pressure” on anything.
When Pete joked that she might feel the pressure after them speaking about it, Pete made sure to make everyone know that they were “joking” with each other.
Read more: Sam Thompson ‘trying to understand’ health diagnosis as he makes heartfelt admission
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