For Made in Chelsea viewers, the 2023 summer series in Corsica went down as one of the most explosive in history, but for Inga Valentiner, it was real life - and when series 26 returned with the cast back on home turf, it seemed like a lot of the drama was brought back with them.
After a horrific break up with co-star Sam Prince – who teased a proposal and then swiftly jumped ship to date her close friend Yasmine Zweegers – Inga Valentiner says she’s out the other side following a month in Bali on her ‘healing journey’, a break from Made in Chelsea and downloading Tinder. We caught up with her to find out what life after Corsica really looked like.
Inga left the Corsica summer spin-off prematurely after it came to light that her ex Sam Prince and friend Yasmine Zweegers had kissed days after their break up, and that they had feelings for each other. ‘It was difficult for a while,’ she explains, ‘but I think enough time has passed and I’ve really worked on myself. I’ve had my healing era and I’m ready to get back out there and start dating again.’
Although time apart helped, it didn’t last long as the cast began filming the current series almost immediately. As Inga knows too well, this isn’t a ‘normal situation’. ‘We’re in the same friendship group and we’re filming together, so it was definitely a bit bizarre, but I think I’ve navigated my way through it,’ she says. As for whether she actually watched the Corsica series back, Inga says she tends to avoid rehashing painful memories, but she did tune in for that dinner party episode. ‘That one I did actually watch. It’s going down in history. It was very weird reliving it,' she explains, 'but yeah, I wouldn’t watch it again.’
Given Sam Prince’s track history with women, it would be a disservice to the nation (or, more accurately, MIC viewers) not to ask Inga what everyone sees in him. ‘I don’t know how he gets all the girls, but he manages to do it,’ she admits. ‘I think when you first meet him he has this sort of cheeky chappy aura about him and I think people warm to that. He’s fun for that part but he’s not fun if you want to be in a relationship or be serious with him. He very clever at making girls feel special, which is great until you’re in a relationship and he’s making all the other girls feel special as well.’
And in series 26, history appeared to repeat itself with Sam and Yas too. Inga tells us, ‘Classic Sam Prince to be going backwards and forwards between girls. A lot of the drama that happened in Corsica gets taken back to London... It’s a messy season.’
And in episode one, we saw that start to impact her friendship with Ruby Adler. In the wake of Inga and Sam's on-screen break-up, Inga had the support of several co-stars – most notably Liv Bentley and Ruby. But back in London, Ruby suddenly changed tact and sided with Sam and Yas and even invited Sam to move into her flat. Inga says, ‘Liv massively had my back, she was really good for that. Ruby did a 180, which I was blindsided by.
'It didn’t make sense to all of a sudden be against me when I was round her house the week before having drinks,' she continues. 'But at the end of the day, Ruby and I were never close and she’s never been a true friend to me or ever really liked me so it’s not like there’s love lost there.’
Has Inga left Made in Chelsea?
There’s only so much negativity a girl can take as although she featured at the start of series 26 on MIC, Inga eventually decided to take a break from Made in Chelsea and didn't head to Australia with the rest of the cast. Now the question everyone's asking is: is Inga Valentiner planning to return to MIC for series 27?
‘It’s not like I’m never going back,’ she reassures us, ‘But just after Corsica being around Sam and in that environment wasn’t right for me and it wasn’t the best way for me to get over the breakup and heal.’
For now, she's hoping to leave the past where it belongs, which is why she partnered with Tinder and Sixty Ink to encourage singles to transform tattoos that remind them of their exes into something new. Inga has one tattoo that reminds her of an ex ('it's not Sam,' she hastens to add) that she got ‘on a whim’. She says, ‘When you start dating again, it’s such an awkward conversation to have with someone new. When people ask, I just lie! It’s not a name so I can get away with it.’ Now that she's in her single era, she wants it removed.
As for whether Inga would ever date another co-star, she says she'd 'rather not'. 'Everyone stays within the circle and none of us really branch out, but I love meeting new people and that’s what I want to do.’ So she’s using Tinder to do just that. ‘I stayed very very single after my break up but now I’m definitely ready to get back out there.
'Tinder is such a good way of doing it because once you’ve had a bad break up, it can be quite daunting getting back into that scene again,' she adds. 'I’m rusty, I haven’t been on a date in three years. But Tinder is a really good way of dipping your toes back in.’
Inga Valentiner has teamed up with Tinder for its Ink Twice campaign which sees the most popular dating app offering singles a free tattoo cover that reminds them of a previous flame.