Gemma Collins may have had her ups and downs with former The Only Way Is Essex co-star Mick Norcross, but she had nothing but kind words to say about him following his sudden death.

Upon hearing the sad news, the 39-year-old took to Instagram on January 21 to pay tribute to the Sugar Hut boss, whom she allegedly enjoyed a brief romance with.

Posting a picture on Instagram, Gemma wrote: "ALWAYS A GENTLEMAN. absolutely shocked and saddened by the news my thoughts and prayers are going out to Kirk family and friends absolutely tragic #ripmicknorcross.

"the memories of the early days the sugar hut and the wonderful filming parties you put on will never be forgotten.

"You never know what someone is going through you was one of the good guys," she added.

Gemma and Mick certainly shared some drama back in the day on the popular ITV2 series.

The GC was left feeling red-faced at one particular party when she assumed Mick was bringing her a bottle of champagne, only for him to walk straight past her and hand it over to Lauren Goodger's sister Nicola, leaving her humiliated.

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  Mick Norcross abruptly quit TOWIE because he feared show would ruin his life

Gemma's advances were also snubbed when she baked an apple pie for the businessman and left it on his doorstep along with a heartfelt note.

Mick believed it was Chloe Sims who had made him the pie, leading to an awkward conversation as he asked her about the romantic move, about which she had no knowledge.

Asked about Gemma's on-off relationship with James 'Arg' Argent in a 2012 interview with Now magazine, Mick said: "It’s all gone t*ts up with those two. Will they get back together? No.

"I don’t think they were ever together really. Arg is going to move on," Mick added.

And when asked if he wished he’d dated Gemma when he had the chance, Mick replied: "What do you think? I don’t regret not going there, no!"

Understandably, this led to Gemma being very vocal about Mick during an episode of TOWIE whilst having a chat with Sam and Billie Faiers.

She made comments that his business decision to get "Sugar Hut Honeys", aka women as club promoters in skimpy outfits, was his bid to become like Stringfellows, a strip club, and he was trying to be like Playboy boss Hugh Hefner.

“He ain’t Hugh Hefner, and the minute someone tells ya, the better your life’s gonna be," she told them.

"I don’t like the man enough, I actually can’t stand Mick if I’m being honest."

Referring to the comments he made about her and Arg, she continued: "Who he thinks he's talking about, my relationship with James. I’ve always supported your nightclub, don’t talk about my relationship.

"Who do you think you are?! Do one mate, do one!"

However, Gemma became defensive when asked by another TOWIE star Danni about the comments she had made.

Danni said Mick had been very upset by the comments, telling gemma: "Mick's saying, "I think the Sugar honeys have been tarnished, I’m supposedly Hugh Hefner'."

But Gemma quickly fired back: "It was a bit of a laugh, it’s tongue in cheek. Mick ain’t gotta prove his innocence to me, I’ve baked him an apple pie, I’ve supported his nightclub."

She later told Danni: "If Mick wants to protect his brand, Mick should make a phone call to us because that would show what a real man he is."

Mick later said that the reason behind his decision to leave TOWIE was down his worries about Sugar Hut being associated with the show.

He said to the Sun at the time: "All these rows they keep filming don’t show the club in a good light and I’m worried it’s putting people off coming, which is the last thing I want.

"Allowing the Sugar Hut Honeys to be called slags is the final straw. I would never allow that to happen in my venue.

“I’ve had enough. I’m out.”

However, there's clearly no hard feelings as Gemma proved with her heartfelt tribute to Mick.

Mick was found dead at his home in Brentwood, Essex, on January 21 and tributes have beeb pouring in from the likes of Mario Falcone, Mark Wright and Lauren Goodger.

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