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" The Only Way Is Essex star Tom Kilbey has announced that he is to take a break away from the show. The former Portsmouth midfielder confirmed on Twitter that he will depart the ITV2 reality show following the recent seventh series finale.   The 22-year-old is currently dating co-star Lydia Bright, after first appearing on the show in its fourth run as the boyfriend of Billi Mucklow. He is also the brother of fellow star Cara Kilbey. He wrote: &amp;quot;Thank-you to everyone who has supported me on TOWIE but I&amp;#039;m guna take some time out from the show to focus on other things #staytuned.&amp;quot; Tom later added: &amp;quot;Thank you@OnlyWayIsEssex and everyone who has supported me made some great friends but gota be true to myself and do what I wanna do x&amp;quot; His girlfriend Bright has yet to comment on his decision to leave the show. The pair recently told Digital Spy that they had no plans to leave the show, and that they will always come as a pair. The Only Way Is Essex will return for an eighth series in 2013 on ITV2. Watch Tom Kilbey and Lydia Bright talk to Digital Spy below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-only-way-is-essex/news/a437916/the-only-way-is-essex-tom-kilbey-announces-break-from-show/>