Lydia Bright has gone public with her Italian chef boyfriend Francesco after secretly dating for a year.The TOWIE star, 35, revealed earlier this week that her new boyfriend is moving in with her after her ex Ben Davies moved on with Jesy Nelson.Lydia confirmed her split from ex Ben in January 2025 after getting together the previous year at one of her ex-boyfriend James Argent’s gigs together.Now, in a new Instagram post, the reality star has finally opened up about her new romance with Francesco as they celebrated their first year together.Sharing a sweet selfie of them together, she penned: ‘A whole year of us.’I want to apologise for keeping such a big part of my life private for so long. So many of you have followed me for years, through so many different chapters. But I really felt the need to protect something that was still growing and when the time came to introduce the two people I love most, I wanted to give their relationship time to grow before sharing ours to you. Lydia Bright has gone public with her Italian chef boyfriend Francesco after secretly dating for a year Now, in a new Instagram post, the reality star has finally opened up about her new romance with Francesco as they celebrated their first year together’And here we are… a whole year later and I have so much to write.’Our first date was this month last year and lasted FIVE hours. I remember coming away from it fascinated by him. His life, his stories, his passion, his outlook on life and I loved that he was Italian:) I tried so hard not to get carried away, but after throwing myself into dating in 2025 and waiting for that feeling, I knew this was special. So second date I text Debs saying “I have met my husband”:D’The beginning of our relationship was slow. Francesco has a V busy schedule, so between his career, mine & being a full-time mum, we both had busy lives. But as each week passed I remember us both counting down the days until we saw each other again. Every little window we had, we made count and we have had so many romantic adventures.’And then summer came, bringing the most important chapter introducing the two loves of my life and suddenly the simplest moments in life felt just as special. Cooking at home, teaching Loretta to ride her bike, watching Disney movies on the sofa. Despite not spending lots of time around children he just got it, patient, loving, playful, all of this made me fall in love with him even more.’She continued: ‘The years of just me and Loretta have been some of the happiest, strongest and most fulfilling of my life.’I thrived being a single mum but I knew that there would be room for someone else if they were special enough and he is that. Such a beautiful part of our world, my romantic, beautiful, old soul.’I’ve learnt, life doesn’t always happen in the order you imagined it would. But you can find happiness in all the chapters. ‘I wouldn’t change a thing, as it led me here and maybe the love you find as you grow is a little more special because of everything you’ve learnt along the way.’ The TOWIE star, 35, revealed earlier this week that her new boyfriend is moving in with her after her ex Ben Davies moved on with Jesy Nelson (pictured Jesy and Ben) Lydia and Ben’s romance was first confirmed by the Daily Mail after the couple attended one of her ex-boyfriend James Argent’s gigs together in April 2024 but by January 2025 the TOWIE star confirmed she was single after splitting from the father-of-one It comes after Jesy went public with Ben following her split from her twin babies’ father Zion Foster.The pair started following each other on Instagram over the summer, before the star shared her teasing snap.Jesy separated from musician Zion, 27, earlier this year shortly after their daughters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe were diagnosed with the rare genetic condition Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1.She had also mysteriously teased a new man in April but it is not known if that was Ben.In July, Zion hit back at accusations he abandoned his twin daughters after they were diagnosed with SMA.Story and Ocean were found to have the genetic disorder, which causes progressive muscle weakness, in January 2026 – with the weeks before and after the diagnosis documented in new Amazon Prime series Jesy Nelson: Life Changing.In one of the episodes, Zion could be seen struggling to come to terms with the devastating diagnosis, saying: ‘I’m not equipped to deal with this. I’m out of my depth; emotionally, physically and mentally.’At the moment I’m surviving. I just need to get help.’Jesy added: ‘I can tell he’s really struggling. For a 26-year-old to have to now be put in this situation… I feel like I can see his life flashing before his eyes.’The singer and Zion announced their split later that month, with Jesy saying on the show: ‘It’s hard. It’s just me and mum now.’