Towie star QUITS show’s Bali trip amid pay row & lands big-money deal away from show with retail giant

TOWIE favourite Junaid Ahmed has QUIT the show’s Bali away trip after launching his new skincare brand with a retail giant.

The Essex star, 29, has landed a HUGE money-deal with a high-end department store.

The much-loved character, who is known for bringing the drama and tea on the ITVBe reality show, will skip the away trip to focus on his brand new venture.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Junaid said: “Sadly I’m not going to be going to Bali with Towie – I’m going to stay in Essex and film in Essex, so obviously some of the cast are going to Bali, but I’ll be launching my new skincare brand.”

“I’m so sad that I’m not going to be involved in any of the drama in Bali,” he told us at the Debenhams Meet Your Match Launch.

“I’m going to sit back and hear all the gossip and I’m really looking forward to not being involved in the drama.

“I think everyone is going for a few weeks, I’m not missing too much.”

But Junaid reassured fans that he’ll still be filming scenes from Essex.

“I’ll still be filming in Essex while they’re in Bali,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to having more of a chilled one and when they all get back then I can find out all the gossip – for once I’m not being involved.

“I’ll never quit Towie, I absolutely love Towie and the platform it’s given me.

“The amount of messages I’ve had since I’ve put my announcement on Instagram – asking if I’m leaving – I’m not leaving.

“They’ve done it before when some cast don’t go away, I’m not going away for my own work commitments.

“I’m the next Kim Kardashian and I’m focusing on my business.”

Junaid told us that he’s teamed up with giant retailers as he launches his new skincare range, called Ina.

The star has been working on his new business for nearly a year and wanted to keep tight-lipped until the products were ready to go.

Junaid shared: “We are launching in a massive high-end department store up and down the country, we’re also going online.

“It’s life-changing, it’s the biggest brand deal I’ve ever done in my whole life.

“Ina skincare – Ina in Arabic is mirror, it’s a facial scrub and a facial oil.

“I’m so grateful, I’ve been working on this for eight months.

“The rosemary is from Saudi Arabia, the oils are from Pakistan – it’s very close and cultural to me, it’s all organic products.

“We want it to cater to absolutely everyone and available to everyone – we won’t have a price point that’s too expensive, especially as a lot of my fans and audience are from Towie are quite young people, I want to make sure they can obviously enjoy it.”

Junaid’s big money deal comes comes after The Sun reported that Towie has been plunged into chaos over a giant pay row, in which three show legends are demanding more money.

It’s not the first time Towie’s cast have kicked off over their salaries.

Back in 2019, some of its stars threatened to strike over their pay — and got a rise within a few hours.

The biggest names of Towie were angry about being paid just £100 a day and more than half boycotted ITV’s summer party, some even tearing up their invites to make their point.

Panicked bosses then bumped up their wages within just 24 hours to prevent any delay to scheduled filming.

Saffron Lempriere previously spoke about the show’s pay structure on Vicky Pattison‘s The Secret To podcast.

She said, “The longer you’re there, the better you’re paid. It’s like a tier system and I think it’s a fair way of doing it.

“Obviously, when you get to the top, though, there’s nowhere to climb so then there’s discussions. But, yeah, they were paid bad back in the day. It’s true.”