Sam Thompson has opened up about his difficult year following his split from Zara McDermott.

The I'm A Celebrity winner, 32, and the former Love Island star, 28, were together for five years and lived together in London. 

After splitting in December, Zara has since moved on with One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson.

Appearing on ITV's Lorraine on Tuesday, Sam spoke candidly about the recent challenges he's faced over the past 12 months. 

Lorraine said: 'You've had a tough wee year, it's been hard, but you keep smiling. That's what I like about you.' 

She continued: 'Nobody knows what's going on in people's lives, especially you because the glass is not just half full, the glass is overflowing, which is really lovely.' 

Sam replied: 'If you've got amazing people around you, which I do, I'm very lucky to have best friends around me and the most amazing family.

'So many people around me.

'I think we've all gone through the kind of year that I've had to be fair... It's a learning curve. 

'You get back and you figure out a lot about yourself as you go through the year.'

It comes after Sam broke his silence on Zara's 'hard launch' with Louis as he heartbreakingly admitted he 'wouldn’t wish it on worst enemy'.

Zara officially announced her relationship with Louis on Instagram last month with a very PDA post, five months after they were first linked to be dating.

While fans went wild for Zara, 28, and Louis', 33, hard launch, for Sam, it wasn't the easiest thing to see.

Speaking on his Staying Relevant podcast, he said: 'I’m watching some YouTube video and my phone just starts blowing up. I thought I’d been cancelled!

Sam continued: 'Mate it’s dinged up, you know when everyone is like, "Just checking in mate, is everything ok?" and I’m looking at my phone like "What is going on?"

'And genuinely you know what it’s like when you don’t quite know what’s happened so you think the worst.

'Tell you what though, I wouldn't wish a hard launch on my worst enemy though.'

Zara hit headlines when she was linked to the One Direction superstar earlier this year when they were spotted enjoying a secret date.

She seemed to prove things are certainly serious as she sent fans wild with a snap of them locking lips for a very cheeky selfie.

She captioned the post with a simple red love heart emoji. Louis commented, 'I love you' under the picture of them kissing.

It was first revealed six months ago that Zara and Louis were dating after they struck up a romance at the start of the year, but now friends say it's serious.

An insider told the Sun: 'Louis and Zara dated out of the public eye for a while before going public so they could make sure this was the real deal.

'They've both never been happier and are a lovely couple. Louis and Zara are both very career driven and support each other's endeavors.'

Meanwhile, Sam has admitted he'd had an 'uncomfortable' start to the year after he and Zara split up.

The TV personality insisted that sometimes a difficult period can 'shock' someone into making a much-needed change in their life.

Appearing on his close friend Pete Wicks' Man Made podcast, he candidly reflected on the past year following the split and how he has evolved.

He said: 'It's such a weird one because I still look to people for help all the time. I look to you, if I'm ever in a problem, I'll call you, I'll call Marvin, I'll call Tony, I'll call Ryan, my brother-in -law, I'll call Louise.

'I have a lot of people who I depend on and as much as I love that, I still feel inside like I'm not quite at the place where I can take care of myself.'

Pete asked: 'So do you think then that asking people for help or being dependent on other people makes you less of a man?'

Sam clarified: 'Asking for help, no. I think I lean a little bit too heavily into the depending.'