The new cast of The Only Way Is Essex has received a mixed reaction online.
TOWIE 2019 kicked off on Sunday with its 24th series on ITVBe.
Those back on the TOWIE cast include Lauren Pope, Shelby Trible, Georgia Kousoulou, Chloe Meadows, Courtney Green, Chloe Sims, Dan Edgar, Tommy Mallet and Pete Wicks.
Also returning for the new series are James ‘Diags’ Bennewith, Liam ‘Gatsby’ Blackwell, Sam Mucklow, Pete Wicks and Lauren Pope, Clelia Theodorou and Saffron Lempriere.
The regulars were joined by newbies including 18-year-old tutor Kelsey Stratford, 23-year-old personal trainer Tom McDonnell and 18-year-old Hairdresser Ella Wise. Also new for 2019 are 23-year-old semi-pro footballer & events organiser Harry Lee, 20-year-old model Jayden Beales and 17-year-old fashion student Joey Turner.
Also new for 2019 are mum and daughter, 18-year-old hairdresser Chloe Brockett and 42-year-old Black Cab Driver Clare Brockett.
Some of those tuning in struggled to warm to the new cast, with many commenting on how young most of them are.
“Jesus did towie do there most recent casting at nursery or am i just getting too old?? #TOWIE,” one viewer joked.
Another reacted: “Am I old or are the new boys like 12 ?♀️ #TOWIE”
A third wrote: “If you could kindly get these college students off my screen we may be able to get through this #TOWIE”
Others begged for some of the show’s past cast to make a comeback.
“Why does TOWIE keeping bringing in new faces? Bring back the oldies! I wanna see what’s going on with Amy Childs, Luck Meck and Lauren Goodger! #TOWIE” tweeted one fan of the ITVBe series.
Agreed another: “Erm am not feeling all the new people on towie can we get the original cast bk like nowwww #TOWIE”
And former cast member Mario Falcone tweeted: “I would rather see the older cast/originals getting married, having babies and going into the next chapter of life.”
But others were more positive, and happy for a new series of TOWIE to begin.
“No matter what’s happened in your life to make you sad, when #Towie is back on for the first time in months it makes everything better! So excited! X” one eager fan took to Twitter.
Meanwhile, before the new series started, it was revealed that a host of familiar faces won’t be back for 2019’s series.
They include Myles Barnett and his Love Island star girlfriend Kady McDermott, who joined the show last year.
Chloe Lewis and Jon Clark are said to have ‘mutually agreed’ to bow out, together with Chris Clark, Adam Oukhellou, Dean Ralph and Jordan Wright.
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