If drama had a postcode, it would probably be in Essex. And if it had a face? Junaid Ahmed’s would be front and center—brows on point, iced coffee in hand, and not a single hair out of place.
But behind the glamour and gossip of The Only Way Is Essex, there’s a lot more to Junaid than reality TV plot twists. He’s sharp, he’s sensitive, he’s fiery when he needs to be, and he’s carrying the kind of firsts that British telly still doesn’t quite know how to handle.
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Let’s get one thing straight: Junaid isn’t just a cast member on ITVBe’s TOWIE. He’s believed to be the UK’s first openly gay Muslim reality star—a title that’s as heavy as it is historic.
He joined the show in 2022, and by now, he’s filming his seventh season. If you think that means he’s just here for the glam and gossip, think again. Yes, he’s serving looks and shade, but he’s also rewriting the rulebook for what visibility looks like on British screens.
“I just want to be me, to be proud of who I am,” he says. And who is he? A British-Pakistani, Muslim, gay man who loves his culture, knows his angles, and has no time for haters.
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But the hate has been loud—and vile. In April, Junaid posted a screenshot of a message he’d received from a viewer who called him a “vile pi b***d” and told him to “die.” He captioned it: “This is the type of social media abuse I get so often.” And it wasn’t a one-off. He’s been relentlessly targeted with racism, homophobia, and death threats since he first stepped into the spotlight.
“I used to cry,” he admitted. “Sometimes you sit there and cry and be like, ‘I don’t want to go out, I don’t want to do anything.’” It got to the point where even leaving the house became overwhelming.
Now? He’s reclaiming his power. “When you turn 30, you realise what’s really important in life and Karen down the road calling me a racist word or a slur really doesn’t bother me, babe,” he grins. “I’m so busy working on my own life.”
And he is. Junaid recently moved into a £1 million Essex home with boyfriend Joe Blackman (yes, the same Joe who once dated Junaid’s ex-BFF Harry Derbridge—messy, we know), and they’re even thinking about a Bollywood-style wedding someday. Expect sequins, drama, and at least three outfit changes.
Still, for Junaid, it’s not just about the spotlight. It’s about being the person he needed when he was younger. He gets DMs daily from closeted queer Muslims thanking him for being visible. “You’re helping me every single day,” they write. And that? That’s the part he takes seriously.
So, who is Junaid Ahmed when the cameras stop rolling?
A loyal friend (unless you cross him), a skincare obsessive, a man who loves his religion even if his family no longer speaks to him because of it. He’s tender-hearted, media-savvy, and just the right amount of extra. He’s not perfect—and he doesn’t pretend to be—but he is real. And for a lot of viewers, he’s the first time they’ve seen someone like them on screen at all.
You might come for the reality TV mess. But you’ll stay for the heart.
TOWIE is streaming now on ITVX, but Junaid Ahmed? He’s streaming in full technicolour—living proof that you can be proud, brown, gay, Muslim, and magnetic as hell.
Source: PinkNews