As Ella Rae Wise wiped away tears on national television inside the Celebrity Big Brother house, telling housemates she felt “like an idiot” for believing Dan Edgar would ever change, the man himself was allegedly crafting a very different emotional narrative behind closed doors — one that now threatens to rewrite everything fans thought they knew about his recent past.
According to screenshots leaked to DailyMail+, Dan Edgar, 35, was sending a stream of affectionate, intimate, and quietly devastating messages to none other than his former TOWIE flame, Chloe Lewis, 34 — while his breakup with Ella was still unfolding publicly. The messages, dated March 2025, reveal an emotional betrayal unfolding in real time, while Ella unknowingly bared her soul on live TV.
“You’ve always been the calm in my chaos,” read one message attributed to Dan.
“I always felt safest with you. And I don’t think I’ve ever said that to anyone before.”
Sources close to Ella have confirmed that she had no idea Dan had been speaking to Chloe until news of the leak broke just days ago.
“She was stunned,” the insider tells DailyMail+. “Completely blindsided. She really thought maybe, just maybe, they’d get back together. This destroyed that hope.”
Dan and Chloe’s history is nothing short of complicated. Both joined The Only Way Is Essex in 2015, and by 2017, Chloe had admitted — tearfully — on air that she’d kissed Dan years prior. The moment caused tension between Chloe and Kate Wright (now Ferdinand), who was still reeling from her own breakup with Dan at the time. Chloe went on to deny any lingering feelings, calling herself “very happy” in her relationship with Danny Flasher. But fast forward to 2025, and the script has flipped again — in secret.
The leaked messages appear to have been sent while Ella was still inside the CBB house, and at least one references the wedding of Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallett, which both Dan and Chloe attended in Majorca.
“That night in Mallorca brought something back,” Dan allegedly wrote. “I think I pushed it down for too long.”
For many fans, the revelations are not just about what Dan did — it’s when he did it.
“The emotional timing of this is cruel,” says a TOWIE insider. “Ella was raw, vulnerable, being watched by the nation. Meanwhile, Dan was emotionally reattaching to someone else — quietly, privately, maybe even deliberately.”
Dan and Ella’s own relationship had been tumultuous: cheating scandals, reconciliation trips, and one final reunion earlier this year just before Ella entered CBB. At the time, Dan shared a soft-launch post on social media hinting they were back on. A week later, Ella was inside the house, crying to Angellica Bell and JoJo Siwa, calling the breakup “something I should have seen coming.”
Now, in hindsight, many fans believe Dan was already emotionally checked out — and possibly already texting Chloe.
Meanwhile, Chloe Lewis — who announced her quiet split from longtime partner Danny Flasher in late 2023 — has kept silent since the leak. Her social media remains polished, curated, untouched by the scandal. But insiders say she knew this day would come.
“She’s not naive,” a source close to the cast says. “She’s always had a soft spot for Dan. But this time? She walked into it eyes wide open.”
The leak has had collateral fallout: Amber Turner, Dan’s ex of six years, has reportedly unfollowed both Dan and Chloe on Instagram. And while Ella has not spoken publicly since the messages surfaced, her friends say she feels “humiliated,” especially after recent scenes filmed in Portugal for TOWIE suggested there was still hope for her and Dan.
“This wasn’t just emotional cheating,” the insider adds. “This was emotional timing — and it was brutal.”
Producers of TOWIE now face a familiar dilemma: do they capitalize on the scandal and bring Chloe Lewis back full-time, or do they protect Ella Rae from further heartbreak on screen?
Either way, it’s clear that Dan Edgar’s reputation as Essex’s most complicated heartbreaker remains intact — if not worse. Because this time, the drama wasn’t caught by cameras. It was caught by screenshots.
And the damage? It's only just begun.