AFTER months of speculation, Olivia Attwood and Pete Wicks finally hard-launched their relationship last week.
But while from the outside it looks like the 35-year-old is happier than ever following the collapse of her marriage to Bradley Dack earlier this year, we can reveal the niggling issue that has been holding her back.
Insiders tell us that the Love Island alumni finally feels ready to move on after taking a huge step and getting rid of ex Bradley from her life once and for all.
Our insider explained: “Olivia finally decided to unfollow Brad’s mum.
“The unfollow feels like Olivia’s final act of cutting herself off from Bradley’s world completely.
“She’d already started emotionally detaching, but removing his mum feels far more symbolic because that was a relationship she genuinely valued in its own right.
“For Olivia, it’s less about being petty and more about drawing a line under that entire chapter. She knows keeping those connections alive would make it harder to properly move on.
“There’s a real sense of finality to it — almost like she’s accepted she can’t keep one foot in the family while trying to build a life away from Bradley. Olivia feels like she can finally breathe.”
Over the years, Olivia had grown very close to Brad’s family, particularly his mum and sister.
She first started dating the footballer in 2015, when Olivia was 24 and he was just 21.
While it was an on and off relationship – thanks to Olivia taking part in Love Island – they ended up marrying.
His mum and sister even appeared in Olivia Meets Her Match and fans saw an unusually emotional side to Olivia as she thanked Brad’s mum for accepting her.
In moving scenes she told her: “It means a lot to me to be welcomed into your family.
“I’m being serious, it does. Throughout loads of periods of my life people haven’t got who I am. I can be misunderstood. It’s a lot. A lot of hair, a lot of boobs and I just love your son a lot.”
But when the marriage came crashing down, Olivia’s relationship with his family was put to the test and we’re told that for some time, the star still felt very tied to them all.
Bradley has since been pictured with ex Emily Rose Moloney and she has started afresh with Pete, but being estranged from her in-laws has hit her hard.
Our insider continued: “It hurts because she didn’t just lose a husband, she lost a whole extended family dynamic she’d become attached to.
“But after seeing Bradley pictured with another woman and Olivia already exploring her new relationships, Olivia seems to have decided she needs a clean break, even if that means cutting ties with people she still cares about like his mum.”
Olivia has often been outspoken about her harrowing split from footballer Brad back in January.
She’s taken a series of savage swipes at her former man after claiming he cheated on her multiple times over the course of their 10-year relationship.
The TV star told fans she “stood by him” through the “lies” and “cheating” and hasn’t held back since.
Just this week, she shared a post which many assumed was directed at Brad.
It read: “Stop being so f**king forgiving, people know exactly what the f**k they’re doing.”
And when Brad reunited with his former flame Emily Rose Maloney, Olivia’s outrage was almost palpable.
She couldn’t resist taking a swipe and remarked: “I have definitely beat up myself over my poor judgement over the past decade.
“But I guess I could have spent 10 years as the bit on the side / professional bench warmer… so silver linings I guess.”
The star has found happiness of her own though; her eight-year-long friendship with Pete recently developed into a romantic relationship.
Only weeks after splitting from Brad she was spotted snogging Pete on a night out – and they have been joined at the hip since.
Insiders suggested that Olivia would be keen to keep this relationship more under wraps, but both her and Pete haven’t been able to resist sharing snippets of their romance.
She gushed: “We tick a lot of the boxes that are really important.
“Our friendship group is nauseated by us – we’re one PDA away from being exiled. I’m like, ‘who are we?’ We’re bringing out a [new] side of each other.”
Up until now, Brad has clearly still been a thorn in her side, but could she be rid of it at last?
Our source added: “Those around her feel this was the last emotional cord she needed to cut before she could genuinely start looking forward rather than backwards. She can finally move on properly now.”