There is a new pair of lovebirds in Chelsea and no one heard them coming. Four episodes into season 29 of Made in Chelsea and Tristan Phipps and Jules Pollard have swooped in from the sidelines to become the strongest couple on the show – not that it’s stiff competition.
Things got off to a rocky start between the couple last year when Tristan and Jules were first set up on a blind date. Why? Because he had only just stopped seeing Lauren Sintes after she found out that he had been for dinner with his ex-girlfriend, Olivia Bentley, while they were dating. Lauren was quick to ward Jules off Tristan, offering a signature ‘good luck’, and it didn't take long for things to go wrong again when Jules kissed Sam ‘Vanders’ Vanderpump on a night out.
At this point, Tristan had assumed exclusivity, whereas Jules was unsure where she stood, so they had a heated argument over expensive cocktails where Tristan delivered one of the best one liners in the show’s recent history: ‘I let my guard down with you, Muffin!’. It also turned out that Tristan had been liking Instagram pictures of girls he used to date, so two can play that game.
All of which led to queries about their age gap, given that Tristan is 29 and Jules is 21, especially when it seemed like Tristan was leading Jules on. However, as the series went on, they still seemed to be drawn to each other and, after lots of speculation about whether they were flirty friends or an actual couple, the pair made things official towards the end of last year.
With all that reality TV-fuelled chaos behind them, Tristan and Jules seem to be going from strength to strength. You only have to watch a few TikToks of Tristan slaving away in the kitchen while Jules films herself on the sofa with a glass of wine to be invested in this relationship. They have a Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy quality (compliment) with Jules managing to bring out Tristan's less serious side.
The only obstacle they’ve faced since making things official came in the form of Sam Prince, a supposed friend of Tristans, who tried it on with Jules by telling her he fancied her in the Maldives while Tristan was back in London. Despite Sam’s weaselling, and Ruby Adler’s medalling, Jules and Tristan seem to have fended off the rumours unscathed.
In fact, last episode they even went for drinks with both their mums, and later in the episode Jules was talking about starting a family, so things are clearly getting serious. Tristan also revealed that his hard-to-please mum gave Jules her stamp of approval, noting that Tristan seemed calmer and more natural with his new girlfriend than he has done in the past. She even invited Jules on her birthday trip to St Tropez – a glowing endorsement if ever there was one.
They even have Lauren’s support. ‘I rightly so had reservations [about them] because I just go off patterns of behaviour, but what’s important to me is that Jules is happy and she seems to be in something good,’ Lauren told Grazia in a recent interview. ‘I can only see what she says, right? I’m not hanging out with them, but if she’s happy then I’m happy because she deserves to be.’
And it goes without saying that Jules’ best friend Jazz Saunders is fully behind them as a couple too. ‘I 100% give my blessing. They’re going so strong, and you can tell how in love they are with each other,’ Jazz told Grazia. ‘They cook together, they run together, they are just very well suited, and people didn’t really see that before. You’ve seen their journey from last season and it’s so different now and hopefully see what we all see.’
For what it's worth, they have our approval too.