James Argent looks more than loved-up as he celebrates model girlfriend Nicoline Artursson's birthday with sweet tribute

James Argent looked more than loved-up with his girlfriend Nicoline Artursson as he shared a sweet Instagram snap to celebrate her birthday on Sunday.

The TOWIE legend, 37, and the model, 32, have been dating since July 2024 after they met in a supermarket.

And looking stronger than ever, James couldn't wipe the smile off his face in the gorgeous snap.

Nicoline tightly wrapped her arms around the reality star while he sweetly held her close.

He captioned his post: 'Happy Birthday My Love @nicolineartursson'.

James confirmed in an interview with OK! Magazine last year that he and Nicoline had already moved in together. 

In their first joint interview, James and Nicoline revealed that it was love at first sight for the pair after they bumped into each other outside a Spanish supermarket.

And since that fateful meeting, Nicoline moved to the UK and has now moved into Arg's Essex home.

Describing the moment they met, James revealed he thought Nicoline was out of his league but decided he had nothing to lose.

He said: 'I was walking to my gig at Elliott Wright's restaurant in Marbella.

'All of a sudden I see this woman coming towards me. I was like, 'Wow, she's beautiful.' She was just in her gym clothes, wearing no make-up. She'd actually just fed a stray cat.'

And after summoning up the courage, James asked her out.

Nicole described James as a handsome man with a big smile, before adding that he makes her laugh, and it was these traits that helped cement their relationship.

James and Nicoline went on their first date a week later, where James explained about his past addiction issues and his weight loss, and the couple were so engrossed in one another that they forgot to order anything to eat.

Despite James's confession about his seven-year drug addiction which saw him go through a near-fatal overdose, a hospitalisation and a stint on rehab, the model was unfazed.

Several months later, the pair seem more loved up than ever and during the interview, the blonde beauty who previously modelled for Abercrombie & Fitch pointed out her Christmas stocking on the fireplace in the reality star's living room.

James explained they would both 'love to have a family one day, absolutely.' while Nicoline added that one her favourite things about James is 'he’s very family-oriented'.

James said: 'We’re both at the right stage in our lives. We’ve both lived a life, we’ve both had experiences with previous partners, but now it’s a really good time to be sure of who you are with.'

Nicoline won the Miss World Sweden beauty pageant in 2011 and modelled for Abercrombie & Fitch. She was also asked to take part in the French version The Bachelorette but declined to focus on her studies.

It is James's first relationship since splitting from his ex Stella Turian last November and the star previously opened up about feeling he would never find someone.

In March, Arg told the My Dirty Laundry podcast that he really struggled on Valentine's day because of his single status - and had to stay off social media because it got him down so much.

Having tackled his demons, staying sober for two years and losing 15 stone in weight, James said: 'I'm in a really good place. Everything in my life is perfect, apart from my love life. It would be nice if that would change.

'I'll be completely honest, this year I really struggled on Valentine's Day. I remember, I woke up and thought, I am not going to look at social media.

'It's not that I'm heartbroken or upset, but just because I knew it's not going to make me feel great because I didn't have a Valentine, I don't have a girlfriend.

'But, I couldn't help it. There was times where I'd just have a little glance and all you would see was couples. Everyone's madly in love. Everyone's happy.

'Everyone's out on dates. There's flowers, there's balloons, there's chocolates, there's date nights or trips or happily married couples - and yeah, it did start to affect me a little bit.'