EXCLUSIVE What love rivalry? How Sam Thompson 'show-boated' his way through Soccer Aid training day while Louis Tomlinson took a very different approach in awkward meet-up after singer started dating TV star's ex Zara McDermott
Louis Tomlinson and Sam Thompson finally came face-to-face at Soccer Aid training on Thursday in an awkward meet-up.
Sam has insisted there are 'no hard feelings' after his ex-girlfriend Zara McDermott moved on pretty quickly with singer Louis, 33, following their split in December, and the new couple have been inseparable since going public in March.
But it remained quite the awkward encounter when Louis and Sam had to train beside one another on the pitch, and tried to avoid eye contact while mingling with their other celebrity teammates.
The men are on the same England team for Unicef, but tried to not draw attention to themselves as they kept to their own devices, although at one point, they were briefly spotted sharing a glance as 'showboating' Sam gave him a smile.
Following the run-in, body language expert Judi James has shed some light on the little interaction they had on the day, admitting their efforts to avoid each other's gaze only acted as an 'attention-magnet'.
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Speaking exclusively with MailOnline, Judi told how that Sam's behaviour suggests he's keen to be seen as 'anything but a loser in love', while Louis appears more 'introverted'.
'There probably was scope for these two guys to connect with a hug or a handshake, no matter how cursory, but they chose to perform a non-verbal 'ignore' of the situation, with Sam being Zara's ex while Louis is very much her current,' she said.
'The problem with ignoring a very obvious situation is that is tends to then act as an attention-magnet, so the presumed goal of not upstaging the charity becomes a bit of a problem.'
Judi told how Sam's body language saw him 'showboating' as he looked determined to be on jovial terms and wanted to avoid being seen as 'a loser in love', compared to Louis' more introverted state.
'Both guys present as 'good' guys here though even though their lack of eye contact or other form of greeting tends to lend an air of drama to the event,' she went on.
'They each appear to have adopted contrasting states. Sam's body language puts him in an attention-seeking mode, showboating with a wide smile and animated gesticulation, while Louis appears more introvert, watching the action with a grin rather than instigating it himself.
'Sam's behavior suggests he's keen to be seen as anything but a loser in love here. His body language looks actively upbeat, confident and excited, suggesting he's moved on since the end of his relationship with Zara.
'Louis appears watchful and interested but there's no outward sign of anything competitive or of open resentment from the two men who are both known as nice guys.'
Commenting on the moment the two men caught eyes and shared a brief smile, Judi said Sam was sending the more 'active communication' while Louis still remained 'impassive'.
It looks like Sam sending a more active communication across while Louis stands in a more impassive pose with his hands on his hips, watching,' she added.
'Sam's partly raised hands and his what looks like a qualifier smile with his upper lip raised, pushing his cheeks up while his mouth falls open looks like a gesture of friendly sporting bravado.
'He seems to have his bicep 'aimed' at Louis to create a message of physical strength here while his hand is curled into a loose fist.
'If there's a friendly but competitive feel to Sam's pose it's not pinged back by Louis, who looks relaxed and unbothered here.'
Zara moved on quickly with Louis after her split from Sam, with the smitten couple having been spotted on a string of loved-up outings and holidays since their romance was made public in March.
Sam and Louis were spotted trying to avoid each other during the training session but the singer was caught giving the TV star a lingering stare while on the pitch as Sam glanced back.
The pair were seen having a kick about with their fellow players wearing the same blue football kit.
Louis appeared visibly awkward as he stood directly behind a cheerful Sam - although it's not known if the pair have interacted with each other behind cameras.
But it seems that Sam and Louis will still be keeping their distance from each other in the changing rooms as they have separated spaces.
As Sam arrived at the training day, he put on a brave face for photos, while beaming Louis was captured arriving and making his way on to the pitch.
And Zara showed her support for her new boyfriend Louis the night before, as she cooked the pair a 'creamy salmon pasta for dinner', as she captured the plate with the singers guitar noticeably in the background.
The new couple have enjoyed a loved-up getaway at his home in LA and to Costa Rica together after Louis flew his new flame out to the island first-class.
Meanwhile, I'm A Celeb winner Sam has moved on with Love Island beauty Samie Eilshi, 25.
After their blossoming romance was confirmed when they shared a steamy kiss in Mayfair last month, speculation of a split grew after Samie was noticeably absent from Sam's highly-publicised challenge for Soccer Aid last week.
Such rumours have since been squashed however, with their romance reportedly going from strength to strength as they 'love spending time together on their days off', a source close to the couple told MailOnline.
During an episode of their podcast Staying Relevant's last month, Pete Wicks, 37, teased Sam about the prospect of the potentially awkward encounter between him and Louis.
The TOWIE star asked his co-host: 'You're really going through it with the whole f****** body and dieting and training loads. Is that for Soccer Aid?'
But, not dropping the subject, Pete then asked: 'Any kind of people in there who you're looking forward to playing with?'
'Loads,' Sam laughed: 'Tom Grennan. I'm really looking forward to playing alongside Wayne Rooney, Tyson Fury's the manager. I can't wait'.
Pete joked: 'I mean that's gonna be f****** amazing. Make sure you get him on side though because you may need him in your corner in case you fall out with anyone. Not that you will but just in case there's any rivalries or anything.
'You know, you have to train together and it's a lot, you know when you're kind of in close quarters with someone like that. All sorts gets brought up. Anyway...'
Elsewhere singer Tom Grennan showed off his muscular physique in a fitted white T-shirt and blue denim jeans as he arrived for Soccer Aid training.
Meanwhile former goalkeeper Joe Hart beamed as he posed for photos ahead of the game and Strictly star Gorka Marquez also arrived.
Last week, Sam suffered a calf injury on the first day of his gruelling 260-mile Soccer Aid challenge for Unicef.
Sam feared his legs will be the reason he won't be able to take part in the football game after his challenge last week - but it seems he is all ok to play as he arrived at training
It comes days after Sam gave a heartbreaking update on whether he will be able to play in Soccer Aid after suffering a string of agonising injuries during his charity challenge
Pete Wicks teased Sam about Soccer Aid 'rivalries' during a recent episode of their podcast
In a clip posted to Staying Relevant's TikTok account, Pete asked Sam: 'You're really going through it with the whole f****** body and dieting and training loads. Is that for Soccer Aid?'
Despite the TV personality fearing his legs will be the reason he won't be able to take part in the football game and insisting he is doing everything he can, it seemed Sam might be able to play some of the game as he took part in training.
On Tuesday, Sam shared another update, he wrote: 'Trying to get those legs right for soccer aid!! I WILL play a part [laughing face emoji].'
A source later told MailOnline: 'Sam's role is going to remain as a player at Soccer Aid as no official change has been made yet. He is continuing to go training and get further physio.'
Sam laughed and assured he's 'loving it' but 'no, it's not' for the game, to which Pete continued: 'Are you sure it's not for Soccer Aid? How are you feeling? You're playing again. Must be really exciting.'
He added: 'How do you feel about the line up? Do you think you've got a strong team?'
Awkwardly laughing, Sam replied: 'Got a really strong team'.
Sam and Louis will join the likes of Tyson Fury, Jill Scott, Grennan and Paddy McGuinness in the star-studded squad, while Wayne Rooney will step out of retirement as one of the managers.
Sam may now have more time to pursue his romance with Samie, who recently opened up about their relationship for the first time.
Sam first met Samie, who appeared on Love Island in 2023 and returned to the All Stars series this year, through his presenting role on Aftersun.
Samie spoke about the blossoming relationship for the first time during an appearance on the Chloe Mediumship podcast.
The show is hosted by a psychic medium and in the episode, the beauty revealed how she's previously had negative gut feelings in past relationships.
She explained: 'I've had gut feelings with guys before. I've had a couple of relationships where I've known it was never it. Like this is gonna come to an end, I'll have something telling me every day it's coming to an end, this isn't for you.
'You put it to the back of your mind and then you start noticing the chaos increase. It's like the universe saying I'm gonna blow you both up if you just do not separate. Then I'm like if I only I listened all those months ago when I got that first message.'
Then, host Chloe asked: 'Obviously, you don't have to talk about it too much but the guy you're currently speaking to, do you have that gut feeling? Like do you think it's gonna be really good?'
Keeping her cards close to her chest, the former Love Islander replied: 'There's been no bad stuff at the minute so yeah I suppose it is all positive right now. It's early days.'
Pete hilariously parodied Sam's ex Zara McDermott's famous 'you can!' moment from Made In Chelsea as he supported him on his mammoth challenge last week
Sam couldn't hide his emotions after he battled through a calf injury last week to complete his mission for Unicef and Soccer Aid
The reality TV star travelled more than 260 miles from London to Manchester over a five day period, raising £1.5million for Unicef in the process
Read More
BREAKING NEWS
Sam Thompson breaks down in tears as he FINALLY completes his gruelling Soccer Aid challenge
Zara and Louis sparked relationship speculation at the start of this year before going public in March, three months after MailOnline revealed Zara and ex-boyfriend Sam had parted ways.
Despite his heartache over Zara moving on so quickly, sources close to Sam exclusively told MailOnline at the time he holds no grudges against Louis over the new romance.
A source close to the star said: 'Sam has no hard feelings towards Louis, that's for sure.
'As far as he's concerned, Louis is Zara's new man and he's just got to accept it.
'He's a positive guy and will just move on from this, throwing himself into work and getting stuck into the exciting projects he's got coming up.
'Obviously he was sad when their relationship broke up and, like anyone, when your ex moves so quickly it's tough. And if he was both angry and devastated, that would be understandable.
'But he's not sitting around wallowing in self pity, far from it.'
This year's Soccer Aid for Unicef match airs on the evening of Sunday 15 June on ITV1 and ITVX from Old Trafford, Manchester.
Soccer Aid stars 2024
England team -
Steven Bartlett (Entrepreneur)
Alex Brooker (TV personality)
Jermain Defoe (Former footballer)
Toni Duggan (Former footballer)
Angry Ginge (YouTuber)
Tom Grennan (Musician)
Bear Grylls (TV personality)
Joe Hart (Former footballer)
Steph Houghton (Former footballer)
Aaron Lennon (Former footballer)
Dame Denise Lewis (Olympic gold medallist)
Paddy McGuinness (TV personality)
Sir Mo Farah (Former Olympian)
Gary Neville (Former footballer)
Sam Quek (Former hockey player/TV personality)
Wayne Rooney (Former footballer and manager)
Paul Scholes (Former footballer)
Jill Scott (Former footballer)
Sam Thompson (King of the Jungle)
Louis Tomlinson (Musician)
Michael Carrick (Former footballer)
Phil Jagielka (Former footballer)
Roman Kemp (Radio host)
Jack Wilshere (Former footballer)
Bella Ramsey (Actor)
Coaches -
Wayne Rooney (Former footballer and manager)
Tyson Fury (Boxer)
Harry Redknapp (Former football manager)
Vicky McClure (Actor)
Goalkeeping coach: David James (Former footballer)
World XI full team -
Tony Bellew (Former boxer)
Leonardo Bonucci (Former footballer)
Tobi Brown (YouTube star)
Martin Compston (Actor)
Richard Gadd (Actor)
Bryan Habana (Former rugby star)
Dermot Kennedy (Musician)
Kaylyn Kyle (Former footballer)
Gorka Marquez (Dancer)
Nadia Nadim (Footballer)
Livi Sheldon (Gladiators star)
Edwin van der Sar (Former footballer)
Nemanja Vidic (Former footballer)
Harry Kewell (Former footballer)
Big Zuu (YouTube star)
Noah Beck (Actor)
Carlos Tevez (Former footballer)
Billy Wingrove (Football freestyler)
Robbie Keane (Former footballer)
John O'Shea (Former footballer)
Maisie Adam (Comedian)
David Trezeguet (Former footballer)
Nicky Byrne (Singer)
Kheira Hamraoui (Former footballer)
Asim Chaudhry (Comedian)
Manager - Peter Schmeichel
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