TOWIE Star's Dream Holiday Turns Into Travel Chaos
Reality TV personality Lydia Bright has revealed her family's New Year getaway turned into a complete nightmare. The 34-year-old former The Only Way Is Essex star jetted off to Tanzania to ring in 2026, but the trip was plagued by a series of disastrous events from the outset.
Bright took to her Instagram Stories to document the ordeal, which began with significant flight delays and descended into airport chaos, culminating in stolen money and lost luggage.
A Journey of '13 Hours of Hell'
Initially, Lydia appeared in good spirits, posting a glamorous selfie from the aircraft with her sister Roma and friend Lucy Burgess. The trio wore face masks and sipped red wine, with Lydia captioning the snap: 'We out of here. Collagen masks and wine. The New Year prep has begun 35,000 feet in the air.'
However, the mood soon soured. After what she described as '13 hours of hell', the single mum to five-year-old daughter Loretta Rose shared a picture of the exhausted children asleep in a car, writing: '13 hours of flying and one hell of a journey.'
Catalogue of Travel Disasters Unfolds
In a detailed series of posts, Bright listed everything that went wrong. Their first flight was delayed, forcing a frantic sprint through Doha airport to make their connecting flight. She claimed no buggies were arranged to assist her family, leaving her parents sweating and her young daughter, Loretta (affectionately called Retta), struggling to breathe without her asthma pump.
The situation worsened upon arrival in Tanzania. The family discovered their suitcases had been left behind in Doha without any notification, leading to hours wasted at the baggage carousel. This caused them to miss their pre-booked hotel transfer.
Stranded with no clothes or toiletries, they spent time travelling around the island searching for essentials, still dressed in tracksuits in 28-degree heat. To cap off the disaster, Lydia revealed her sister Roma had all her cash stolen.
Frustrated by a lack of response, Lydia publicly called out the airline involved, @qatarairways, pleading for help. She wrote: 'I would never normally post this but I am getting no clear response... DO BETTER. Easily the worst travel journey we've ever had.'
Displaying resilience, she later shared a humorous snap of her Dior sandals on the beach, joking about her high-end 'collab' with Louis Vuitton luggage due to the missing bags, and later posed in a local football shirt with a cocktail for New Year's Eve.
Reflecting on Single Motherhood Before the Trip
The ill-fated holiday came shortly after Lydia reflected on her life as a single mother in a heartfelt Instagram post before Christmas. She shared festive throwback snaps with Loretta, admitting that while she never pictured being a single mum, her life with her daughter had turned out 'more magical than she ever expected.'
She co-parents Loretta amicably with her ex-partner, mechanic Lee Cronin, from whom she split during her pregnancy. Lydia has previously stated that it is for the best that their daughter never saw them together as a couple.
