Lauren Goodger flashes her engagement ring at DVD signing… but have she and Mark already filmed their break-up?

By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:11 PM on 28th March 2011

Lauren Goodger attended a DVD signing today with her Only Way Is Essex co-stars, where she proudly showed off her large engagement ring for the cameras.

In fact, the reality star was so eager to flash the sparkler that she almost muscled her fiancé Mark Wright out of the pictures, leaving him to stand awkwardly behind her as she ensured photographers got the best angle of the diamond.

If their relationship appears a little strained at today’s event, perhaps it is because the engaged couple are rumoured to have already filmed their break up scenes for the ‘reality’ series.

Engaged… for the cameras: The Only Way Is Essex stars Lauren Goodger and Mark Wright cosy up for the cameras at a DVD signing today

Fans of the ITV2 series watched as Mark, 23, popped the question to Lauren – bizarrely, out the back of a pub – on last Wednesday night’s show.

And the couple are maintaining the loved-up appearance, for now at least, as their storyline shows them moving in together and spending evenings snuggled up on the couch.

But show insiders say that the on/off couple’s reunion is purely for the cameras, and that they have already shot a dramatic break-up scene for an upcoming episode.

There was little affection from Mark and Lauren, 23, at today’s DVD
signing, where they appeared at the HMV store in Lakeside shopping
centre in Essex with co-stars Amy Childs, Sam Faiers and Kirk Norcross.

Lauren has swapped the ring Mark proposed with for a slightly smaller solitaire which she chose herself.

She ensured it was front and centre as she posed with a copy of the season one DVD wearing a blush pink top, skinny jeans and black heels.

All smile now: The couple posed with co-stars Amy Childs, Sam Faiers and Kirk Norcross at HMV at Lakeside shopping centre

Lauren’s co-stars Amy and Sam dressed up for the in-store appearance – Amy in white and black dress and Sam in a blush pink and black lace flirty frock.

The Only Way Is Essex has attracted complaints from viewers that the storylines have become more staged in this season.

A warning at the start of each show tells viewers that the cast and situations are real, but admits that some things are set up ‘purely for your entertainment.’

But fans of the show have taken to social networking sites to complain that the show is becoming too far-fetched.

In the proposal episode, Mark turns up to propose to Lauren just hours after she has a tattoo of his name removed.

His offer is met with hardly any emotion from Lauren, who casually accepted, before they both went off to tell their respective families separately.

Later in the episode Mark’s ex tells Lauren that she had slept with the playboy a fortnight before, while he told his family that he could always change his mind about the engagement in ‘a few weeks.’

Another of his love interests, Sam Faiers, declared her supposed love for him on Sunday night’s episode during a two-minute conversation, despite having previously said she had moved on and has been spotted on dates with several other men since last seeing Mark.

For the cameras? Mark proposed to his on/off girlfriend during last week’s episode

The dramatic love quadrangles, appear to be increasingly for the cameras only.

His most recent ex-girlfriend Kayla Collins tells this week’s Heat magazine: ‘If the cameras weren’t rolling, they wouldn’t be together.

‘I think he’s playing more of a game, and she might be in love with him. Mark knows what he’s doing, and if this is going to draw more attention to them, then I’m sure he’s all for it he doesn’t want to be single on the show, and Lauren’s been the easiest option for him. The relationship won’t last.’

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